


Scott Summers: Certified loser

by Alayne_StoneColdFox



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cheating, F/M, Friends to Lovers, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-15
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-08 23:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 78,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1960839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alayne_StoneColdFox/pseuds/Alayne_StoneColdFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Say your girlfriend is crushing on the guy you hate more than anyone, would that somehow justify making out with the hot blonde transfer student? Yeah, didn't think so. Just checking. My name is Scott Summers, a certified loser, and this is the story about how I sabotaged my own, already pathetic, life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mac and cheese

It was at exactly 7:45 am on a Monday morning when a Mac & cheese box hit me in the face that I realised I was a loser.

Well I guess i've always had an inkling, or at least half known. The fact hasn't completely taken me by surprise.It's more like the evidence has just been mounting up since adolescence and i've finally come to the natural realisation. I'm an 18 year old senior at Xaviers S.H.S, white, lanky,with a $5 haircut, i've never cut a class in my life, I don't have a car, I have to wear these lame special dark lensed glasses constantly because I have a thing called photophobia, which doesn't mean I have an irrational fear of photos, but it does mean my eyes are super sensitive to all types of light so I basically have to wear them everywhere, my Mom still buys the majority of my clothes for me and I stock shelves at the local Safeway for $8 an hour.

Hi, I'm Scott Summers: certified loser.

The pivotal moment that made the fact of my loser-ism apparent was- wait, loser-ism? That can't be a real word. No way does that exist in a dictionary. Loser-ness? That still sounds wrong but whatever, you get what I mean.

So the moment when my loser-ness dawned on me was just yesterday when I started my Sunday evening shift. I walked into the giant supermarket just before it was closing to customers and immediately saw the light of my life, Jean, right there at the first check out counter . She was the one thing I seemed to have gotten right in my life.  
Cute, popular, nice and a cheerleader with her bright red wavy hair and beautiful green eyes. She always scoffed when I told her her eyes were beautiful, saying I was so lame and cheesy but she would smile like she liked it, so I decided I would keep saying it. She was so modest for a girl that could easily act like she was better than everyone else. 

Anyway, by some twisted miracle or incredible stroke of luck, she is my girlfriend and has been for the past 3 years now. If I rewind to what seems like ages ago we were in the same year at school. I noticed her first, a lot of people did, but I could never work up the nerve to talk to her and she un-surprisingly never noticed me.  
Only a few months after I applied for this same job I have now, fate was kind and she started working as a check out chick. I would punch in at 7:30 three nights a week for the night fill and she would punch out at 8. this only gave me a half an hour window of opportunity to talk to her but I guess I used it well. I can't even remember what I would try and talk to her about. I do remember saying I liked her butterfly hair clip she had in one day and she said she could get me one of my own if i'd like. I paused and felt really awkward until she laughed and told me she was joking. I've never been good with jokes. Then next shift I saw her she actually did bring an extra butterfly clip and clipped it right onto the back of my head. I walked around the entire rest of my shift when it was in and whenever we locked eyes we would laugh. Later on she was the one who asked me out. Not to brag or anything but just last year we were named cutest couple in the school yearbook.

Anyway, she waved at me from her spot on the register as she scanned through the items from one of the last straggling customers and I waved back. I didn't stop to go over and chat since I saw our manager giving me the stink eye. I just headed straight over to my isle to get to work.

Stacking shelves isn't exactly the hardest job in the world, especially on the brain, but it's not as easy as everyone thinks either. You've got to grab the stepladder and climb up and pull down as much left over stock as you can and re-fill empty spots on the shelves, then you move your ladder over to the next section and do it again.

Ok so maybe it is kind of easy.

But you have to do it fast, plus make it all look neat...and sometimes you run out of things...or you get too much stock so you have to try and organise it neatly on the top or you can't even find some items at all. Also your manager might happen to be a dick who gets mad if you happen to put the black current juice boxes where the orange juice boxes should go. Plus they play the same awful CD's over the intercom all night. I know all the lyrics to Kasey Chambers 'Am I not pretty enough' and I really wish I didn't.

So my jobs not rocket science and it's cool either, but I have to admit it has it's perks. To me anyway. I don't have to deal with any customers, the hours are always the same so no surprise shifts or your manager calling up with an hours notice demanding you show up on saturday morning. Plus now I've been doing it for so long it's so routine. I know exactly what to do and how to do it well. I like that.

Plus if theres crates of coke in the stock room that are just out of date I can totally just take it for free. Also I get a heads up on all the super savings deals before anyone else. Did you know you can get 3 tubes of Colgate whitening toothpaste for only $4.99? I bet you didn't.

It only took me ten minutes to re-stock all the energy drinks and ice teas, which trust me is an impressive time, and as I opened the next box to start filling the fruit juices I stopped. This wasn't Juice. This was a box full of Tampons. Brightly packaged pink Tampons. Boxes always get mixed up by the guys out back so it's not that surprising but come on, how can you get tampons and juice mixed up? I pick up the box and head past the frozen food isle to find my manager.

“Rajdeep, someones been messing up the stock again and putting Tampons up in my isle, if Tandy has any juice in the health and beauty isle i'll-”

I freeze mid-way through calling out blindly as I reach the front of the store. Rajdeep is there turned towards me as he re-stocks all the candy bars on the displays next to the registers, more specifically, Jeans register. But it's not just Jean that's there. A boy Is across from her paying for his groceries. I recgonise him and that's why I freeze up. 

Warren Worthington the third.

And yes, that's what people actually call him. He always acts like he's embarrassed to have a 'title' as he calls it, but I can tell he totally gets off on it. He's rich, handsome (If you listen to half the girls at Xaviers anyway. Apparently being tall, muscular and blonde with blue eyes just immediately gets you deemed a god. Whatever. I don't see it. I'm taller than him anyway) and he is fawned over by students, teachers and probably small woodland creatures too. Did I mention he was rich? But not just rich as in he can afford cable in two rooms of the house, I mean rich as in he got a bentley for his 16th birthday party, he has five of his own Rolex's (five that i've noticed anyway) and there's pictures in his house of his Dad shaking Donald Trumps hand. He's also sickeningly charming and genuinely nice which really puts a dent in my effort to hate him.

All in all he is the last person I would want to run into wearing my tattered work clothes and waving a box full of Tampons around, but here we are. I seemed to have walked in on him and Jean chatting and laughing over some shared joke but now they had stopped to turn and look at me. Jean doesn't say anything and Warren is the first to nod his head in hello at me.

“Ah, hey Scott, how are you?” 

“...er, good...thanks”

He nods again “Good”

Then Rajdeep steps in and barks at me “Take the Tampons to the Health and Beauty isle and leave it to Tandy, i'll talk to the guys out back about the mix ups, and don't take too long. I want that isle capped before the new stock arrives so hurry hurry”

I nod wordlessly, giving a stiff smile and wave to Jean and Warren before turning on the spot. I didn't muster any words. It only took about five seconds and ten paces before I heard them laughing. At the time I guess I assumed they just went back to laughing at the same joke I had interrupted but now as I went over the scene in my head, pondering over my breakfast waffles, I realised they were probably laughing at me.

Sad old loser Scott and his tampons.

Cut back to right this second as the box of Mac and Cheese ricocheted off of my face and dropped down into my half eaten waffles.

“Ow! What the fuck Alex?”

“I said can. You. Make. This? Were you really that spaced out you didn't hear me? God”

I readjusted my glasses and glared at my younger brother, wishing, as usual, that we weren't related.  
They say brothers who were only two years apart were supposed to be close. Hearing people say that made me laugh. Me and Alex hadn't got along since he came out of the womb.

“Why the hell would you want Mac and Cheese for breakfast? And more importantly why do I have to make it for you?”

“Because I don't know how too and Mom's already gone to work and Dad can't even make cornflakes right” Alex snapped like I was an idiot for even asking.

“How do you not know how to make Mac and Cheese? You put the Macaroni in the water, you put the cheese flavouring in the Macaroni, it's not that hard” I said as I scraped my plate into the bin and chucked the plate it in the dishwasher.

“So you're not going to make it?”

He could tell I was giving him a warning look through my glasses.

Alex just rolled his eyes “Fine, whatever. I'll just starve. It's not fair that you get Mom's waffles and I have to go hungry 'till lunchtime”

“maybe if you actually woke up earlier you would actually get some of Mom's waffles”

Our Mom was a nurse so she always ended up working weird hours. Most mornings she leaves around 6am. I happen to wake up around 5:30 am most days. People say i'm crazy but i'm just a natural early riser. Sometimes I go for a run, I walk the dog, I catch up on homework that's not actually due for a month. Alex is the opposite. He will only ever get up ten minutes before he ever has to go anywhere. Don't even try and get him up before midday on weekends. He bit me once. I actually have the tiniest of scars on my forearm.

“You're an ass” the biter says, ending the conversation. He grabs his schoolbag off the hall floor as he heads to the door. “Tell dad i'll be out late, I'm meeting Lorna at the mall after school. I'm getting dinner at the food court too since I obviously don't get fed around here” I heard him call about before the front door slammed.  
I don't head to school yet because I usually walk with my two friends, Hank and Bobby. They are literally my only close friends. We've been a little trio since grade school since they just live down the road, and for years Hank has walked to Bobby's house, and then they both walk to my house and then we all rock up to school together. For a brief few months last year after I got my licence I drove us all to school and anywhere else we needed to go. I really liked that and i'm big on cars. It was an old second hand Ford Falcon XT i'd bought from an add in the paper but i'd saved up for all $6, 500 of it myself and she was my pride and joy. Then Alex thought it would be a great idea if he took itt for a joyride with Lorna at two in the morning to do god knows what. None of us have been able to get a straight story out of him. It was either some old lady driver came out of nowhere and he swerved off into the tree, totally not his fault, or a racoon darted out across the road and he swerved off into the tree to avoid it, or a semi-truck was barreling down the road in the wrong lane right at him and he had to save them both by, you guessed it, swerving off into a tree.

Either way my car was totalled and going past that destroyed tree down the road was painful every time. Rest in peace old girl. I've been saving for a year and a half now to buy another old bomb and so far have around $1500. Still, a new car was awhile off.

I already had my bag packed for school the night before so I head up to my room to kill time. As I bound up the stairs two at a time I manage to step right onto my dogs outstretched tail at the top of the landing. He lets out a little yelp of annoyance.

“Sorry Cable” I wince, giving the white husky a pat behind the ear as an apology and he seems to accept it. Good thing I was wearing socks. Plus i'm his favourite. He was rescued from an animal shelter with the idea of him being a family pet, but he's basically mine. I'm the one who takes him for his walks and feeds him every morning, plus I let him sleep at the end of my bed. He actually used to be a fighting dog, his right front leg is pretty mangled looking and he walks with a limp, and he's blind in one eye. He's the most badass looking dog you will probably ever see. I secretly love taking him down the park and seeing all the other little dogs practically run away in fear. He even has that effect on some people.

I step over Cable, as he likes to lay across on his stomach so he takes up the entirety of the hallway, and walk past my older brothers room. I know he's up since I can hear the faint sound effects of an intense Starcraft game. That's all Gabriel really does to be honest. He's a twenty three year old, greasy haired, just out of college graduate on a 'gap year' as he calls it. I call it sitting around his room playing computer games non stop with the occasional venture out for food. Forget conversation, he just kind of grunts. I've figured out the translation too, a low grunt for yes and a high grunt for no. An old nike shoe being thrown at your head means he wants you to fuck off and stop asking if you can borrow his phone charger. I have cracked the code. We generally like to pretend were not related to each other as well, but I like him more than Alex since Gabriel is very easy to ignore. 

“Scott? Was that Alex leaving? I though I heard him yell something about me”

That's Dad, his bedroom doors cracked open and he's calling out. I pushed open the door to his room and leant in the doorframe “Nah, he just said he's going to be meeting Lorna after school today. Gonna be late home”

Dad was sitting upright in his and Mom's double bed, pillows propped behind him and his laptop opened up on his lap. A whole bunch of papers were scattered around him. He used to work as an airforce pilot in Alaska before we moved, but now he paid the bills by writing pulp fiction space pirate novels. 

And no i'm not kidding.

They barely sell anymore and i've never met anyone who's actually heard of his work, but it's his passion and it pays enough to get by.

“Ah, I thought he and Lorna broke up a few weeks ago?”

“They're back together again. Turns out the text messages were from another girl named Max and she wasn't cheating on him at all”

Dad frowned “Wait, I thought they split because of that whole thing at McDonalds..?”

“No, that was the break up before the latest break up. She apologised for throwing her thick shake on him when she caught him checking out Kitty Pryde”

“God, I can't even keep up with that relationship” He chuckled.

“I'm kind of embarrassed that I can”

Just then I hear the doorbell ring.

“That's Hank and Bobby” I say and Dad waves me off.

“Have fun learning!” he calls out jokingly as I bound down the stairs.

“Have fun writing the next adventures of Captain Corsair and the Space Jammers!” I call back.

And again to clarify, not kidding about the space pirate pulp novels.

I grab my bag and pull open the front door to find Hank and his brown leather satchel in one hand (he refuses to have a backpack as he thinks the satchel is much more 'aesthetically pleasing' as he says) and Bobby stuffing his face with a muesli bar.

“Hey” I say as I slip on the worn out navy blue sneakers I keep by the porch. They were $15 from k-mart so i'm not that concerned if they get stolen.

“Good morning Scott, good weekend?” Hank asked in his usual Monday good mood. He's the type that actually enjoys school and the whole learning thing. I know. I don't really get it either.

“Can't complain” I shrug as we set off walking down the footpath.

“Good good, I for one had a marvellous weekend. I finished reading the last few chapters of Dickens original Oliver Twist, which I have to admit i'd avoided since being forced to sit through the movie adaption one too many times by my mother, It put me off entirely, but now I can say with complete honesty that I have read every single one of Dickens works” he finished off proudly.

I give a nod “cool” I don't really know what else to say. 

In case you were wondering, he always talks like that. Sometimes I think he was born in the wrong era. Having him as a best friend is like being in the presence of a 1920's upperclass gentlemen from Harvard twenty four seven.That and the fact that he's also built like a line backer so even if people aren't intimidated by every 100% he gets on a test and big words he strings together in everyday conversation, his pure size is enough to do the job anyway. If I hadn't known him since we were ten and seen him get a pencil stuck up his nose I would probably be intimidated by him myself.

Bobby finally finished cramming the muesli bar in his mouth so he could speak. “Dude-” he started, the word he starts most of his sentences with “-you would not believe what I saw on saturday when I went and got subway!”

If I had to sum up Bobby quickly in one word, I would just say 'immature'. Really immature. If he wasn't talking about girls or video games or some gross youtube video, he probably wasn't talking. To sum it up even further he is the type who thinks 'Ice Ice baby' is the best song created this century and that Dane Cook is actually funny. Still, he's a good guy and strangely endearing...

“Just as I was ordering my meatball sub, Tabitha Smith walks by the window and I look out just as the wind blows her skirt right up and . I. See. Everything!”

...most of the time.

Me and Hank get to listen in silence as Bobby goes into vivid detail of Tabitha's apparently very small red lace thong all the way to the school. I try to tune it out. 

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I think whoever decided that having a math class first period on a monday morning must be a sadist. A cruel teenager hating sadist.

It's not even that I find the work hard. Maths is actually one of my better subjects since its just formulas you have to memorise over and over. It has rules and structure. Unlike English which i'm terrible at. I think I once got a 27% on a creative writing assignment. Dad was practically ashamed. So much for following in his proud career footsteps.

But still, even if the work wasn't hard, that didn't mean it wasn't boring.

It was halfway through the class and everyone was restless and already skipping past questions on their worksheets to lean back in their chairs and talk to their friends. I would have too, if Henry or Bobby were in this class. Henry was naturally in the top Maths class for advanced students and Bobby was in the remedial class, which left me stuck in the middle with the generic level stuff. 

On the plus side Jean was in my class. 

On the down side, so were all her little gaggle of girlfriends.

I sat opposite her in my desk but other than that she was surrounded. Betsy sat in front of her and was turned around leaning on her desk. She was the head of the cheerleading team that Jean was on, and she was treated as such. A lot of guys treated her as some kind of pinnacle of perfection. Personally I didn't really see it, not that I couldn't tell she wasn't pretty, but I guess just not my type. Regardless of what I think, Bobby would probably cut off his right arm just to see her skirt blow up in the wind. Besides her was Rogue, a southern girl who in all honesty scared me a little. She was small but she was a scrapper. I have actually witnessed with my own eyes, along with half the school, as she had a full on punches-thrown fight with her boyfriend in the school parking lot. Jean has tried to assure me she has a heart of gold under her temper but all my mind flashes back too is her screaming 'You dirty fucking cheating cajun bastard!' over and over again that day as she rained down her fists of fury. I heard they were back together again. God help him. I'm glad my relationship isn't that dramatic. Then theres Ororo, probably the one of Jeans friends I get along with the most. She's quiet but not in a shy way, more because she just speaks when she needs too if that makes sense. She's classy really and I have a certain respect for that. I also heard through Jean that she was the one who pushed her to ask me out, so that's probably a pretty big factor as to why I like her. Lastly there's Kitty. Kitty isn't a bad person....but she is a loud one. I guess being opinionated and outspoken can be considered a good trait. Kitty has a lot of that trait. I also have a feeling that she really doesn't like me.

Jean has a lot of other friends but this was her little crew. The ones I had to put up with the most.

Wow, that came out sounding ruder than I meant it too.

The one's I had to learn to like the most?

The ones I had to earn the approval of in order to date Jean?

The ones I always have to hang out with at at the mall on the weekend when Jean wants to go shopping?

I swear i'm not trying to make it sound like I hate them.

I think the main reason they make me uncomfortable to be around, and I hope other guys feel like this too, is that I know they talk about me. I'm not saying that to be vain. Its a fact that Jean has told me that they all gossip about their boyfriends to each other all the time, and that makes me included. I try to act casual about it and ask what exactly they discuss but she always giggles and says stuff like 'never mind' or 'its a secret' and 'forgot I even mentioned it'. But I can't forget. I don't know what they know about me but I know they know something. It sounds confusing but you get what I mean. It just puts me on edge.

I'm only half listening in to the conversation. Its kind of an un-written thing that I may join in and sit with them as the token boyfriend but generally I shouldn't try and join in the girl talk. That was fine by me. Girl talk was not my forte. Sometimes it was hard enough for me to de-code just exactly what they were saying in normal conversations.

Right now Kitty had her handbag slung up on Jeans desk and they were all admiring it.

“-and this is the fake louis Vuitton bag Piotr got me last week from when he went on his trip back to Russia to visit his family. Apparently his neighbours cousin in moscow sells a tonne of these out of the trunk of his car so he got a good deal. You can't even tell it's fake!” 

“Aw, that's so sweet of him” Jean gushed while Betsy was busy tucking the bag under her own arm, testing it out.

“You should ask him if he can get more next time he goes so we can all have one” Betsy said and Jean looked like she liked that idea.

“Yeah totally! I would so love one. I mean a real one would be ideal but of course i'll take what I can get” she laughed and my ears perked up at that.

“You know if you really wanted one I could buy it for you” I offered casually and they all turned to me. Kitty let out a laugh.

“Do you have any idea what a real Louis Vuitton bag cost?” 

I blanked “Well, no..” 

“They are literally thousands each” Betsy pointed out and now Rogue laughed.

“Yeah, how many boxes would you have to stack to make that kind of money?” 

I sit there and feel dumb. How was I supposed to know a bag would cost thousands? That actually sounded like a joke to me but obviously it was real by the way they were acting. How many back alley russian bags could you get for that kind of money when you compare it? And were does Rogue get off on making box stacking crack. She works at Dunkin Donuts.

Jean smiles at me and put a hand on my arm “I don't expect you to buy me a thousand dollar bag, but it was sweet of you to offer though” Even she's trying to hide a laugh.

I give a stiff smile back as they go back to talking about some drama on the cheerleading team. Apparently Alison Blaire had some idea that she could do a singing performance between cheer formations or something, I don't know, I tuned back out again.

Like I said, not good with the girl talk.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

 

it wasn't until class ended and everyone was filing out of the room that I managed to go after Jean and catch her alone. 

“Hey” I say shortly, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. Nothing obscene, were in the middle of a hallway. “Walk you to your next class? Science right? My history room is just across from there”

She smiled apologetically as she holds my hands in her “Oh, i'm sorry.I Can't. I have some orientation thing to do for some new transfer student. She just moved her from Massachusetts academy and we have a tonne of classes together so i'm supposed to show her around and get her settled in or whatever” 

“Massachusetts academy? Isn't that the fancy prep school up state?”

“Yeah I think so. Its super exclusive and stuff. Only kids from families with old money get in apparently. I read an article in star magazine ages ago about how Madonna wanted to send her kids there but they wouldn't let her since she was hollywood trash or something and they could actually ban her. And she's Madonna! Warren mentioned that his parents considered sending him there but it was a boarding school and in the end they didn't want to send him away”

“Yeah, good thing they didn't...” I said lowly but thankfully Jean didn't pick up on anything.

“Anyway, I have to go meet her outside the principals office now since she should have her student pass and time table all worked out by now. I'll see you at Lunch, kay?” she leant up for another quick kiss.

“Kay” I smiled as we pulled away and she moved down the hall between the throng of people, giving a small wave.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I like History class. I dunno, something about hearing all the old stories and it just takes you back to a different time. Right now were studying the second world war, having already covered the first one. Maybe this is a real boy thing but learning about wars is just really interesting to me and I really enjoy it. I mean I wouldn't say that I 'enjoyed' the holocaust, but it's crazy to read about. To think that something like that even happened. I'd already read most of the textbook for this year word for word and I watched a lot of history channel documentaries with Dad anyway at home. Ive had at least two history teachers mention being impressed about how much I happened to know about war planes. Thanks Dad. And just aside from that its all guns and tanks and war heroes and battles. 

War is tragic, but you're lying when you say it's not really cool to read about.

“I am soooooo bored. This is killing me.Whens lunch?”

I don't even look up from working out an upcoming essay structure plan that we had to do on the Nazi's rise to power, but I could hear Bobby's head thunk against the desk.

“Careful now, don't damage to many more brain cells” Hank smirks, sitting on the other side of Bobby. We had our usual spot on one of the long benches at the back. The teacher was out of the room photocopying something, so people were taking the chance to whisper quietly among themselves. 

“Still forty five minutes left and you haven't even ruled a margin on your page” Hank tutted. “I've already got twelve paragraphs planned out. Do you think I should do one on the depression and how it affected post war germany or two?” he directed the question to me.

“Twelve? Seriously. Maybe keep it at one then. You know you've been told to shorten your essays just for the teachers sake”

“True true, fair point” Hank nodded and scratched something out in biro.

“Oh god, you guys are boring. Im changing the topic-”

“Bobby I swear to god if you tell me one more detail about Tabitha's underwear I will throw you through this second storey window” henry muttered calmly as he scanned over his textbook. I nodded in support, letting him know that I would help.

“Nah, I'm done talking about that-”

Thank god.

“-this is way more exciting news” he puts his hands up as if to shush us and he pauses for dramatic effect “gentlemen...we have a hot new transfer student in our year”

Hank looks like he was still considering the window option and he seemed surprised when I actually engaged the conversation. Probably against my better judgement. I really shouldn't encourage him.

“Oh yeah, Jean mentioned something about a new girl starting today. The year coordinator put her on as her guide or something”

Bobby nodded excitedly “Yup, it's true, and I totally got a look at her just last period. Trust me. She's a total babe”

“How did you even know it was her?” Hank asked doubtfully.

“Because my first period maths class-”

“The sped ed class-

“-Haha funny, yes, the sped ed class that just so happens to be right across from the principals office . I saw the new girl sitting on that lumpy old sofa just outside Xaviers office with one of those new student info package thingies.Blonde. Blue eyed. Mini skirt. Legs that went for days. I swear to god, she was Victorias Secret level hot”

Me and Hank exchanged looks.

“Bobby, you call nearly every girl you encounter hot. You're so desperate for it I once heard you say one of the lunch ladies in the cafeteria looked hot today-”

Bobby cut Hank off sharpish “Hey! You misunderstood me! I said she looked 'hot' as in she was literally standing over the chip fryer with beads of sweat all over her face. I literally meant she looked over heated!”

“of course you did” I chime in with a smirk.

“But the point is you tend to throw the word hot around very flippantly. Its a new girl every week. That girl at the Starbucks with the lip ring is the most stunning girl on earth. That girl you made eye contact with on the train was a goddess. That statue of the topless women in that fountain has got it going on..etc, etc”

Bobby threw up his hands in submission “Whatever man, I love to love. Women of all different kinds are beautiful to me and I can't help it if you have such a shallow view of what is considered desirable in this society”

Hank looked pleasantly surprised and just a little impressed“Wow Bobby, that was quite an eloquent and decent thing to say”

“Thanks, I copied it from the view”

He laughed “You'd try any line to finally get laid wouldn't you?”

He was joking but Bobby got a little defensive, making sure to lower his tone “Hey, don't paint me off as desperate. You're a virgin too so don't go throwing glass stones at houses” 

“It's throwing stones in glass houses” he corrected: he couldn't help himself “-and yes i'm aware of that fact. I just don't care about it as much as you do because it's not that big of a deal” he shrugged.

This was true. In all the years i'd known Hank he'd never had a girlfriend, or even wanted to ask a girl out. Jean once told me she thought he was gay, something I quickly laughed off in seconds. Hankwasn't really outspoken about girls as he was with most other topics, but he would talk to me about it. Girls think guys don't talk about all that lame crap when we sleepover at each others houses and decide to have a conversation at two in the morning but we do. That and our on-going debate over who's hotter, Scarlett Johansson or Kiera Knightly. It's an intense debate. He actually made a power point presentation about it complete with cue cards. (In case your wondering, I am team Johansson) So definitely not gay. Me and Bobby decided he doesn't talk about girls since they're probably the one thing he doesn't completely understand. You can't learn being good with girls out of a textbook. If you could I would be all over that, but no, they don't exist.

“Of course it's a big deal. Well not a big deal, I'm cool about it, but it's still a deal. Were seniors. This is getting sad. I thought I would have had around three girlfriends by now” Bobby said in all seriousness.

“At the same time?” Hank smirked.

“Did you know what I heard last week? Apparently Remy LeBuea had a threesome with some sorority girls at some party when they were all wasted and then he also hooked up with the former miss Alabama 3rd place runner up only a couple hours later!” he said it like it was impressive but I pulled a face. Remy was in the year above us and was the guy I told you Rogue beat you in the parking lot. Henry made a strange noise that was half a scoff and a laugh.

“Oh as if that's true!”

“No it's totally legit! There were photos up on facebook!”

“You don't have Remy LeBuea on Facebook”

“Yeah, but Jubilee does and she told me that Tabitha told her that Amara totally saw them. They got taken down real quick though because you could see one of the girls left ass cheek so facebook took it down, but yeah”

Well with proof like that...

Hank looks like he actually wants to give up right there.

“Bobby, seriously-” I step in “Don't listen to all that crap, if they're not making it up completely they're at least exaggerating”

Bobby shrugs “Ok, so say that one story isn't true, we can all bet on the 99.99% chance that Remy has at least done it once, like the majority of guys in our year. I don't wan't to graduate and be that guy who rocks up to college party and doesn't know what he's even doing. These are the practise years, there's so much more expectation out there in the real world! I am behind everyone else. I'm still on my sex training wheels while everyone else is riding around popping wheelies on their sex BMX's!”

I have to get the image of a couple doing it karma sutra style on an in-motion BMX bike on one of those crazy dirt roads out of my head. If they did a flip in mid-air would gravity and G-force do most of the work? Ok, no. i'm getting it out of my head.

“Just....don't make such a big deal about is all i'm saying. It's what Hank's saying. Making sure you have sex before high school ends isn't important, even if they did make all those American Pie movies about it, but they sucked anyway”

“Okay, first of all, you lost yours first out of all of us and have had a steady girlfriend for years. You don't get to act all high and mighty when you're getting some every week, and secondly, what do you even mean by American pie being a bad movie? Where do you even get off saying that?”

As Bobby launches into a full blown rant about the comedic genius that is a guy getting caught masturbating with a pie, I mull over the thought that Bobby actually thinks I do it every week.

If I was being totally honest, me and Jean haven't done it in over two months. I haven't mentioned it to anyone because why would I? They'd assume there was some sort of problem. There really wasn't. Plus i'm not the most comfortable person when it comes to discussing the topic. I don't think I managed to utter a word in sex education class freshman year, and I couldn't look our elderly teacher in the eye for weeks after watching her demonstrate putting a condom on the banana. Don't get me wrong. I like thinking about sex. I like having sex. I just don't like talking about sex. But anyway, back to me and Jean. It was mostly just that we were both busy with school and work, plus she had cheer practise and it was mid-way through senior year so studying and homework got in the way a lot too. That and I always had at least one of my parents or brothers home and she hated doing anything knowing someone else was in a room next door. I used to go to her place all the time when I had my car and her parents were out, but she lives so far away and it takes ages if I bike or take the bus. She tells me she feels mean making me go through all the effort. I don't push it because I don't want to seem so pathetic as to trek an hour and a half on foot just to get it in. Even if I am totally prepared to do that if I have to.

I mean, would I like to do it more often? Well, yeah. Im a guy. I'm not a sex crazed manic who has it on the brain twenty four seven but i'm... normal. If that's the right way to say it.

I just figured we'd dropped into a bit of a dry spell. It happens. No big deal.

Of course if Bobby wanted to think I was one of the guys on a 'Sex BMX popping wheelies' all the time then all the more power to him.

Hank seems glad to be off the topic anyway and we end up talking about the American Pie movies for the rest of the lesson.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The cafeteria was already busy by the time we got there. Not that it really mattered, all the different groups had their own tables they'd practically had reserved for years. As all three of us walked to our usual spot near the side of the room, I did a quick scan over to where I knew Jean sat with her crowd of girls. I saw Betsy, Kitty, Rogue and Ororo, as well as Alison and Tabitha and the rest of the cheerleading team that I didn't care enough about to list. The only boys there were Jean-paul and Warren. Jean-Paul was gay and the school track star, a bit of show off but other than that he was alright.He was popular, but I don't think he really fit in with the other jocks but all the girls loved him at least. That was probably the same reason Warren was there. Still, I couldn't see any bright red hair.

I grab out my lunchbox as we take our seats. Yeah, my Mom still makes us lunch boxes. Salami sandwiches, an apple, carrots and celery sticks, a jello cup and a juice box. She's a nurse, of course it was going to be healthy. I don't care if it's lame by anyones standards. I look at Bobby and his pack of Doritos, choc milk and a cold slice of leftover pizza from the Dominos I can guess he had last night and i'd rather have my lunchbox any day.

“What are these chips actually made of?” Bobby says out loud, staring intently at the Dorito he held up in his fingers.

I actually blank. “Potato's?” I guess.

“Nah, that's what you'd think, but I dunno. They're not the average chip” he frowned.

Hank looked up over the roll he had just bitten into at the both us. Obviously we are stupid and he knows the answer. “....they're called corn chips”  
Me and Bobby both make the noise at the same time “Oooh”

I had honestly never made the connection before.

Half way through my celery I see Jean walk in the cafeteria doors with another girl walking by her side.

“That must be the new girl” Hank says, having spotted them both as well. Bobby practically gives himself whiplash he turned around so fast in his seat.

“Yes! It's her. This is the best day of my life. And now Jean and her are going to be besties and i'm going to use that opportunity to sweep in there and become her boyfriend. New girls are great since it's a fresh start, they don't know who you are. They don't know the full extent of stupid shit you've done throughout the years”

“Like that time you peed in the sink of the science labs because the teacher wouldn't let you go to the bathroom during class?” Hank smirked at the memory. That had been a memorable class.

“Exactly”

I wave when she looks my way and Jean stops as she's walking. I had expected her to walk straight over to her usual table but she looks at us and then back to her table, and then at us again. It's like she changed her mind mid-walk as she know struts straight over to us, the new girl following.

“Oh my god they're coming over” Bobby hisses to us under his breath “Just be cool” he says, not being very cool about it at all as he tries to flatten down his un-combed hair,

As they get closer I finally take in the girls appearance. I silently give props to Bobby. She was Victoria's secret hot.

She was a few inches taller than Jean but I noticed she had a pair of shoes with a small heel on them. They made a little click clacking sound as she strode across the hard floors and stopped at our table next to Jean. She had on a white singlet dress with some kind of see-through material blouse thing over the top. It was tied at her very thin waist under her quite huge...i'm going to say 'assests' so I don't sound like so much of a creep (I swear I didn't stare. At least not anywhere near as long as Bobby did. In fact I don't think he was looking anywhere else since she came in to view to be honest)That kind of material probably had a proper name but I didn't know what it was. Her hair was white blonde and hung down to her waist, dead straight and shiny enough to think it wasn't even real. I remembered what Jean had said about her being from a rich prep school and when you looked at her you could tell she had money. Her clothes were pristine and expensive looking, she walked with an easy confidence and I was willing to bet the diamond earrings she had on were real.

“Hey guys” Jean chirped, a big smile on her face as she waved a hand towards the girl, like a showgirl on the price is right displaying the latest dinette set that was up for grabs in the next round “this is Emma. Emma this is Scott, my boyfriend, and his friends Henry and Bobby”

“Hey” Bobby said with a nod of his head and as much charm as he could muster. Emma gave him a curt smile. I mutter a hello and Hank actually holds out his hand to shake.

“Welcome to the lunatic asylum” he jokes.

Emma keeps her hand to herself but I see the corner of her lip twitch upwards “You don't have to be crazy but it helps” she replies dryly. She has an accent, I pick up that much. British maybe?

Hank awkwardly draws his hand back but he seems to have liked that she at least joked back. It was a clever and quick reply. Something I imagined he appreciated.

I happen to catch glances with Jean and her eyes widen at me in a silent message and her smile looks very forced. I frown, a silent question. Something was wrong? In a flash it's gone though and she's back to smiling like she was a second ago.

“So anyway, Emma, you can just sit here with these guys while I just need to go ask my friend about a thing real quick, ok?” she asks but she doesn't wait for an answer as she quickly turns to me “I'll be back in a sec”

“Oh, er , ok” I say, taken by surprise as Emma silently slips into the seat next to Bobby across from me. Jean is already headed straight over to betsy and the other girls. Me and Hank exchange glances and he gives a slight shrug. 

Weird.

Emma doesn't seem phased though as she folds her arms over her chest in silence. If she's noticing that Bobby's looking very unsubtly down her top she doesn't say anything.

Theres an awkward silence.Emma's eyes are flitting across us as if taking us all in. She has a very good poker face and I can't imaging what she's thinking, except she's not smiling and I see her brow twitch into the slightest of frowns as a couple of freshman race past the table being obnoxiously loud. I take a slow bite of my apple and the loud crunch makes everyone turn to me. I chew subconsciously. Emma is looking right at me. I notice that her eyes are a very clear light blue. I probably would have thought they were pretty if they weren't so off putting at the moment.

“Um, do you have any lunch?” I ask, not knowing what else to say but I notice she's not eating.

“I brought money for one of the school's lunches but after seeing whats on offer-” her eyes slide over to the nearby table where a sad band kid is eating what I think was meant to be a beef taco “-I changed my mind. Salmonella would put a bit of a damper on my first day”

I don't blame her. I look over just in time to see sad band kid sigh in despair as a lumpy bit of brown sauce splats down onto his too-tight Big bang theory t-shirt. I keep telling people, lunch boxes are the way to go. 

But now I can definitely tell she has a British accent. A classy one as well.

“You can have some of my Doritos if you want?” Bobby offers with a smile, holding out the packet.

Emma held up a manicured hand between herself and the Dorito's“No. Thank you”

As Hank offers to take a look at her time-table and inform her which teachers are nice and lax with homework and which ones will crucify you for chewing gum in class, I take a look over to Jean. She's standing over in front of the table full of her girls, her back to me, but I can see their all listening intently. A few of them are staring this way, obviously trying to get a read on the new girl themselves. While Emma, Hank and Bobby are busy going over her classes Jean turns back this way. All the others turn to look too. They all have equally serious expressions. I give her a confused look and a shrug, wanting to know what the hell was going on with them but they all quickly turned back in a scary kind of unison as soon as they noticed me watching them.

High school.

“Oh, we have advanced maths together” Hank comments as he scans over the time table “And your in mine and Scott's physics class too”

I turn back around, trying my best to ignore the strangeness at the other table, and stare at the timetable my self.

I see that we also have chemistry and contemporary literature together “You're in three of my classes. We have free period together next as well”

“You have free periods right after lunch?” She asked.

“Just on a monday”

Bobby craned his neck over the table to look for himself “Do we have any classes together?” he asked, almost desperately.

“I don't know, do you have marine biology last period today?” Hank asks.

“Yes!” Bobby says triumphantly.

“Well Emma doesn't. Sorry” Hank smiled, obviously finding himself funny, as Bobby's face fell and he snatched the paper for himself.

“We have economics together” He says, obviously disappointed that's its only the one class “It's such a shitty class, we get homework basically every day”

“I like economics” Emma shrugs.

“Yeah, me too. It's just the teacher that makes it shitty, you know, because...I mean... he's obviously just not as passionate about it as I am. Its a shame really”

Good job Bobby, nailed it.

At the same time we all notice as Jean, flanked by Kitty, Alison and Warren, walked up to us from across the cafeteria. 

“Heeey, sorry about that Emma, They were ok weren't they?” She laughed, pointing to us guys and giving me a playful nudge on the shoulder. “I know what they're like”

I didn't know what she meant by that.

“They were fine” Emma said, her blue eyes now looking at the three new faces. “did you sort out that 'thing'?” 

“Ah, yeah. It's all good. It was just about some boring homework thing “ Jean waved it off.

“Oh. What was it?” 

Jean blinked, obviously not expecting a follow up question “Oh, ah, Just some research we needed to do”

“Hm. What for?”

Everyone went a little quiet. My eyes darted between the two girls. Thing suddenly felt a little tense. Emma was looking right in Jeans eyes and I could see her shift a little on the spot.

“Um, it's not exactly important” she laughed.

“Drama class” Kitty butted in.

“Yeah, drama. Researching roles” Jean nodded along.

Emma raised an eyebrow but she didn't ask any more questions.

“Anyway-” Jean continued on “-some of my friends wanted to meet you”

“Hey, i'm Alison! People call me Ali a lot of the time though. I don't know if I really like that but it's just one of those names that stuck since grade school and I guess I don't really mind it, you could say it's kind of grown on me over the years. Some of the teachers even call me Ali, so yeah, call me whichever. What did you say your name was again? I have like, already totally forgotten. Argh,i'm so scatterbrained, sorry!”

“..It's Emma” She actually looked slightly unnerved as Alison rambled on in her usual mile-a-minute way. I kind of got that way around Alison too. She was very...energetic. I can't think of a better word to sum her up. I had only ever been able to talk to her in small doses when I showed up to watch Jean's cheerleading practise.

“Cool, that's a pretty name” she complimented. Emma didn't reply, she just turned to Kitty.

“I'm Kitty” she said simply, with the smallest of smiles. When Emma still didn't reply, that smile was dropped.

“And according to Warren you two have already met, soooo, reunion time” Jean laughed.

Warren smiled “Hey Emma, nice to see you again. I didn't know you were coming here, you should have messaged me”

Emma frowned “I'm sorry, where do we know each other from?”

Warren let out a small laugh. Emma's expression didn't change. He stopped when she realised she wasn't kidding and she genuinely didn't seem to recognise him.

I'm not gonna lie. I may be forcing myself not to smile right now.

“Um, our families know each other. Our Dad's have worked together a little bit, we go to the same christmas parties, our Mothers are in the same book club or something..” he trails off into silence but it doesn't seem to ring any bells with Emma as she just shrugs.

“Sorry. Can't say I remember you” She shrugs, not sounding very sorry at all.

I am loving this.

“Ah, ok” Warren tries to laugh like it's nothing. I bet he's secretly dying on the inside. 

Not that I would enjoy that.

There's another silence that stretched on too long. Naturally Alison felt compelled to break it.

“I really like your bag! Kitty just got a Louis Vuitton too, you're like matching, even if your's is the beige one” she smiled, pointing out Kitty's bag. 

The corner of Emma's mouth twitched upwards for once, in what I guess you consider the closest thing to a smile as i'd seen her make “Thank you, but I wouldn't say we matched. Not much anyway, since mine is actually real”

Kitty raised an eyebrow while Jean and Alison exchanged glances.

“Well, I don't really care about that kind of thing. It look's just as good. Besides I think it's kind of unnecessary to bring a thousand dollar bag to school to carry your books around in” she shrugged.

Jean nodded “Yeah, you might wanna bring an older bag or something. You can get a backpack like mine for thirty bucks down at k-mart” She turned around to showcase her little green flower print bag.

“But this is one of my old bags. I got it for my 13th birthday so I don't really care if it get's ruined. It's not like I brought one of my Hermes” Emma replied casually, running a hand idly through her hair.

I didn't know what an 'hermes' was but I saw Alison's eyes widen 

“You have a real Hermes bag?”

“I have three actually”

I'm not exaggerating when I say Alison's jaw dropped. She was actually gaping. She was an over the top kind of girl but still, these bags must be even more expensive than those Louis ones. Probably even like three thousand or something ridiculous.

“They cost like $30,000 each, and you have to go on waiting lists for years to get them!”

If I had been taking a drink I would have spat it out.

$30, 000 for a bag? 

Emma actually laughed “Hm, they can cost that much but mine were only around $16, 000 and only one is just a bit more than that. Plus the whole waiting list thing can be avoided when you know the right people. My mother knew one of the design directors of the main branch in France”

She said all of this like it made it reasonable.

“That is crazy” Kitty said, saying what I felt, and sounding more disapproving than impressed but Alison wasn't done gushing.

“Oh my god, do you have a Chanel? A Prada? A Gucci?”

If I hadn't known they were taking about bags I would have been so lost by now. How many types of bags were there in the world and why did they need names?

“Six, two and no Gucci” she sneered at the last one but she seemed much more willing to talk to Alison about this than she had been to talk about anything else so far. Maybe this is a girl bonding thing. I wonder if Hank is studying this right now like its some kind of insight into different kinds of human female behaviour.

“Woow, I am so jealous right now! I would love to raid your wardrobe one day” Alison laughed.

“So anyway, lunch is nearly over” Kitty started, cutting Alison off before she could continue “we have drama next”

“What do you have Emma, i'll walk you to your class” Jean offered.

“Actually she has free period with me” I mention. People seem surprised I actually spoke. “She could walk with me if she wanted” I looked at her and she nodded like this was acceptable.

“That would be fine”

Jean clapped her hands together “Great. That works out good. What's your last class?”

“Chemistry” Emma said as Jean peered at her time-table to double check the room number.

“Ah, that's on the opposite side of the school, but I can still come and get you, no problem”

“Actually she's in my chemistry class too” I offer again.

“haha wow, how many classes do you guys even have together?”

“Four” Emma answers bluntly.

“Oh. Cool. You're set then”

She reaches over to kiss me on the cheek “Where gonna head off now before the bell rings so were not late, thanks for helping Emma for me! Meet me after school by my locker?”  
“Sure” I smile as I wave her off. Kitty, Alison and Warren say their quick goodbyes and then they're all gone. They were right, lunch was almost over. I hadn't even eaten my sandwich yet.

“Wonder why the rest of them didn't come over?” Bobby wonders out loud. We all look over at the other table. They were already looking at us. Cue that creepy unison head turn again, trying to make it look like they weren't just staring.. 

“They're not subtle are they” Emma mutters.

“This entire school generally isn't” Hank mutters back.


	2. Apparently they feel differant

“so tell me, what's the deal with the shades?”

I'm walking with Emma through the halls after the end of lunch bell has rung.

“Is it a fashion statement or do you have some kind of hideous case of pink eye?”

“Neither. It's just this condition I have” I mutter “Photophobia. My eyes are just really sensitive to the light”

“Right. So you have to wear them constantly when your outside?”

I nod “And inside too. Fluorescent lights are really bad, the ones they use here at school. If I don't wear them I have to squint to see anything and it only takes around ten minutes before I start to get a killer headache and I feel lightheaded and stuff”

“Hm. Interesting. I've never heard of it before” she says as we head up the stairs.

“Not many people have. Take the next flight up as well” I tell her as she walks up the steps in front of me. 

I happen to raise my head at the precise moment the back of her skirt flipped up just enough to see a flash of white cotton underwear. I look back down to my feet quickly.

“So, um, why did you end up transferring here anyway? Not many people change schools through senior year, and especially not from Massachusetts prep to Xaviers” I ask as we reach the top and keep walking.

“Do you think I was kicked out then?” she smiled.

I don't answer straight away “Well, I didn't say that”

“It does seem like the only smart explanation doesn't it?”

I shrug. She shrugs back. Mimicking me, not answering the question.

“Sooo... were you kicked out?”

“Yes”

She says it bluntly and without a clear emotion that is surprises me.

“Really? Why? What did you do?” I raise my eyebrows at her as we reach the door to the classroom and she turns to face me 

I wouldn't say i'm a nosy person, I generally mind my own business, but I was genuinely curious. I'd never met anyone who was actually kicked out of school before. Plus Emma didn't look like the type to start a punch up in the cafeteria or vandalise school property, but for all I knew maybe she could be. 

Emma just shot me a devilish smile “I was simply too fabulous for them. That's why” and she pushes the door open and strides in ahead of me.

O0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

We've been in study period for half an hour and I still haven't found out why she was expelled. Granted I only tried asking one more time and again she just smiled a poker-face smile and told me she already answered that question. So I drop it. Maybe it was personal. Maybe it was embarrassing. Maybe she's joking about the entire thing. 

I don't have anyone I talk too in this study period. I usually just sit up the back and actually do work instead of sit around and text or chat or watch the latest episode of how I met your mother on someones i-pad, which is what everyone else does. Were in one of the science classrooms for the lower years so the benches are long and white, with high chairs that your feet dangle off of unless you can get one of the non-broken ones that still have a footrest. Emma sat next to me at my usually exclusive table, getting out a fancy leather bound notepad and pen that came in it's own silk lined case. In comparison I had a two dollar exercise book that was falling apart and a biro. We worked in a mutual silence, occasionally asking questions. I asked her about her family. Her parents were still together and she had two sisters, one older, one younger, and I told her I was the same but with brothers. I happen to mention that they're both kind of asshole, then I worry if that sounds a little harsh to tell someone you just met but she then tells me that her sisters are bitches. The coincidence is kind of funny. Apparently her dad was head of a company called Frost international. I said that was a weird name for a company that didn't sell ice or fridges or anything. She then told me Frost was her family name. My bad. I tell her my Dad is a writer, not going into any detail about Captain corsair and the space jammers and their war against the Shi'ar empire. She doesn't have any pets because her mothers allergic but says she wouldn't mind a cat. I tell her a bit about Cable. We settle back into silence.

I glance over at her as she writes. Her handwriting is neat and all in perfect cursive, with lots of little loopy bits and she draws circles above her i's instead of just using dots. She writes slowly and stays completely on the line. I look at my own handwriting. Its barely legible. I write tiny and cramp up my words so tight you can barely tell them apart. My maths notes are just a wall of text with the occasional triangle or circle stuck in the middle like islands.

“So are you friends with Warren?”

The question comes out of nowhere.

“Um, yeah” I say, only half lying. Which means I don't particularly like him but he doesn't particularly know that. But why go into that now “Why?”

“No reason, I've just always wondered why he chose to come here instead of Massachusetts since I know he did consider it. Thought you might know if you two were close” she asks, still writing in her notebook.

“Well, were not close so yeah, I dunno. I've heard Jean say it was because of the whole boarding school thing that put him off” 

She nods “Hm, I always guessed it was something like that, especially since I know his parents always coddled him. Didn't want him away months at a time I guess”

I pause and frown.

“Wait, I thought you said you didn't know him?”

“I know”

“So you do know him and you do remember him?”

“I do”

“So you were lying back there?”

“I was”

She was so non-chalant about her answers.

“Why?” I ask.

She smiles“I thought it would be funny. Is that bad?”

I stare at her incredulously for a second before I let out a laugh. She cracks and laughs a little too.

“Did you see his face though? He was devastated!” 

“Oh, I know!I'm awful. I couldn't help myself though. I know you said he's your friend but god, the few times i've met him he's just been so....you can just tell he thinks he's gods gift to women can't you? He plays the nice modest guy so well but I can tell he secretly agrees with every compliment he ever gets and well...I don't think it's that bad to take those guys down one little peg or two occasionally”

I get myself under control but theres still a smile on my face. The idea that at least one girl at this school is immune to Warren Worthington the thirds charms just makes my day. 

The rest of the lesson went by pretty quickly, so did chemistry next period. We didn't talk much in that class, the teacher was actually strict and expected us to read quietly from the textbook while he flipped through his i-phone under his desk. 

Emma was a little different. Not weird different. Just...not the usual.

I really have such a way with words don't I?

I don't know what I even mean exactly, I just know that she seemed alright. When the final bell rang and I said goodbye to her I actually felt good. As sad as it sounds, theres not that many people I can talk too easily and that goes double for girls.   
I walk down the hall and turn the corner to see Jean already waiting at her locker and packing up her books. We say Hello and share a kiss before I lean back on the other side of the lockers and wait for her.

“So how was the rest of your day? Oh and thank you sooo much about taking Emma off my hands by the way, I owe you one” She laughed, shaking her head, as she crammed an english lit book under a pair of her cheerleading sneakers.

“What do you mean?” I say cluelessly.

She shut the locker door and turned to face me “Seriously, I couldn't take another hour with that girl”

Well that's not what I expected to hear.

“what, why?”

Jean seems to find my genuine surprise baffling as she frowns at me “Are you kidding? Little miss princess barbie, Paris hilton wannabe? The first thing she did when she met me was look me up and down and ask if this was my natural colour. Not even a hello first or a smile. Oh and apparantly I might 'benefit' from some de-frizz shampoo. My hair is wavy, not frizzy! Theres a difference. I could straighten and burn my hair to hell and back like she does if I wanted too, but I happen to like my hair”

I don't know what to say, but she's looking at me.Say something Summers. Quickly 

“Oh. That's kind of rude”

This was the right thing to say.

“I know! And the entire time i'm giving her a tour of the school, using up my own personal class time voluntarily by the way, she's on her phone or staring off into space or saying something obnoxious like 'Oh, are these the biggest class rooms you have? The one's a M.A. Were at least twice the size' or 'The water fountains you have here don't look the least bit sanitary'”

I watched as Jean got herself worked up, even putting on a fake British accent to imitate Emma. I feel awkward. I should ay something again.

“That sucks”

Jean nods “Such a nightmare. I really hope she gets used to the school quickly because I do not want to be her guide longer than I have too” I think this might be the end of it but her eyes widen like she remembers something “Oh and what about today at lunch! The way she totally put down Kitty's bag right to her face! Like so what if it's fake, nobody cares! You shouldn't be spending thousands of dollars on a stupid bag when there are people starving in the world!”

I flash back to this morning when Jean had said something about how it would be nice to own one of those thousand dollar bags, but luckily my parents didn't raise me stupid so I keep my mouth shut.

This is probably a good time to mention that while being one of the most genuinely kind and caring people you will ever meet, Jean did have a fierce side to her. It mostly showed itself when standing up for her friends, like for a instance there was a time when we were all out seeing a movie and some guy hollered something gross at Betsy on the street and Jean literally walked up to him and gave the guy a stern talking too about gentlemanly behaviour, no fear. She also made him apologise. You didn't even have to be her friend either. If she see's someone push in front of another customer in line for her checkout at work, she will call you out and send you to the back of the line and take her sweet time putting your items through. And forget your bags being packed, she'll make you do it yourself. She just had a strong idea of what's wrong and what's right, that's how i've seen it.

“And when she was bragging to Alison about all those other designer bags she had? I'm glad we got away or we probably would have had to hear the entire inventory of her closet”

We begin walking down the corridor among the throngs of people heading to the exit.

“Alison did kind of ask her about it though” I say, shrugging “And I don't think pointing out that her bag was real to Kitty was meant in like, a mean way or anything”

Jean thinned her lips and looked up at me sternly.

That was not the right thing to say. 

And i'd been doing so well too.

“No offence Scott but that is such a boy way to see it. You don't get how girls work. Were subtle. There are layers to things girls say. Emma technically only said 'but my bag is real' but what she actually meant was 'but my bag is real, so this makes me better than you. I am also richer and I know it so bow down to me with your inferior knock-off bag, you peasant'”

I frown trying to let that sink in “Um. Ok”

“I know it's hard to see but it's there. We see it. She was being totally rude right to our faces”

“And what were you doing then?” I ask without thinking.

“what?”

“That whole 'you wait here Emma while I go and talk to my friends mysteriously instead of introducing you to all of them'. I dunno, it was weird. I didn't mind having her sit with us but don't you think she'd have been more comfortable meeting all your girlfriends?”

Jean looked a little sheepish “Ok, so I kind of wanted the opportunity to vent to everyone real quick and tell them about what Emma was like first before I had to do the whole fake smile thing with all the introductions and blah blah blah. It was like a fair warning”

“Or you decided you didn't like her and you wanted to make sure when you introduced Emma that your friends wouldn't accidentally end up liking her instead?”

I don't say it to be super accusatory. Sometimes Jean is quick to step into a way of thinking, especially when her temper flares, and sometimes you just needed to put it into perspective so she can be objective and take another look at whats in front of her.

Jean screws up her face “When you put it like that I sound like a bit of a bitch don't I?”

I am back to being smart enough to know that is a rhetorical question.

“You've only just met her. She rubbed you the wrong way. It's her first day at a new school that's obviously different than anything she's used too. Maybe she isn't acting herself”

Jean sighs as she crashes into me and I put my arm around her as we walk “Urgh, Scott. Stop being so sensible. You make me feel like an ass”

“I do what I can”

“Ok. I'll give princess prep school another chance” Jean submits, her voice calming “But she better watch herself. She's on edge. And I can't promise anything from the other girls either. You know what kitty's like. Once you piss her off there's no coming back”

“Alison seems to like her”

“Please,Alison seems to like the prospect that she might be able to try on a pair of borrowed designer shoes” Jean laughed.

As we reach the exit we stop on the steps. She stays two above me so she's just as tall and were face to face.

“You wanna come over? Alex is out late so he wont be annoying and Moms on a long shift. We could order a pizza”

I try not to let any ulterior motives other than pizza cloud my mind. Jean can always seem to read me when I do.

Her nose scrunched up and she immediately put on an apologetic voice “Aw, I'm sorry but i'm kind of just beat from today. Monday-itis. I just want to go home and sleep”

“Yeah, no, that's cool” 

Damn, she totally read that.

“Maybe tomorrow after school at yours then?”

“Cheer practise. Sorry”

I try not to let any disappointment show as a I shrug “Well I guess i'll just see you tomorrow in Lit class then”

“Yeah and I swear we'll hang out soon. Promise” She gives me a kiss that's way too short for my liking before breaking away “My Mom's car's probably out the front by now, I better get going”

I steal one more quick kiss on the lips before she pushes me away with a smile, heading to the car park.

I pull out my i-pod and headphones and walk home alone.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

 

The next day in gym class I was off my game, which was clear when Jamie Maddrox hurled a dodge ball right into the side of my rib cage.

I'm generally pretty good at sports and i'm one of the people at school who doesn't actually mind the mandatory phys ed lessons. But as I say that, I like more sports than others. Baseball especially, soccer is good too and all those athletics things like long jump and track I do pretty well at too. I'm not the best but I used to be on a couple of teams before junior year when I dropped it to focus on exams.

Then there's those bullshit lessons they try and pull with you. 

Like dodgeball.

God I hate dodgeball.

It's not even a real sport, it's just a kids game. People have tried to convince me that it does have some sense of strategy to it and requires skill...but lets be real. They just chuck a class of us in the gymnasium and make us ditch balls at each other until one side wins.

So yeah, i'm of my game because A. I have other things on my mind and B. This game sucks anyway.

I clutch at my side and walk over to the side bench as I hear Jamie holler about his victory. As the game continues I take a seat next to Hank, who had gotten himself taken out in the first few seconds on purpose so he could sit and read his book.

“God I miss Coach Harper” I mutter “I even miss those laps around the oval he made us do every lesson. Anything better than this”

Hank nodded “Hm, can't say I miss the laps, but I know what you mean. Mr Howlett isn't the best teacher”

The sports department had a bit of a scandal just last term when a bag of weed was found in three different lockers. Three teachers lockers. Coach Harper was one of them and he was fired immediately along with the others. Now the school had too many gym classes and not enough teachers, so we got stuck with Mr Howlett. Me and Hank both look over to the other side of the gym where the stocky, muscle bound Mr Howlett stood with his arms folded and a scowl on his face, surveying the players and barking at anyone who wasn't actively trying to beat anyone else with a ball. Everything he said he growled in a voice of a chain smoker. He was hairy and unshaven and ..and...Canadian! The only reason I know that last one is because someone made a canada joke once and they almost got pushed up against the wall and threatened. Even the few times he's let slip an 'eh?' nobody even dared point it out. To sum him up quickly, he was just a moody bastard.

Also he hated me.

He hated a lot of kids, he seemed to dislike most teenagers in general, but he would always single me out.

He'd taken to calling me 'slim' which I hated. He laughed about my glasses even after I explained about them and he asked if I made it up since it sounded so stupid. Next lesson when I showed him my medical certificate he said he didn't even care and told me not to be so sensitive and to take a joke. I wasn't being sensitive, I was being practical. Plus he said I had girlish hips. What does that even mean? I don't feel the need to point out that i'm actually a head taller than him.He has to look up at me just to yell in my face about how pathetic my push ups are. Plus when ever I volunteer to be a team leader he never picks me. Ever. Even when i'm the only one who wants to be one he'll automatically pick someone else. If I try to do well he tells me to stop trying to show off, if I don't try he tells me to stop slacking off. I can't win with this guy.

I'm glad when the bell rings and the lessons over. As I head back to the locker room to change quickly for next class I hear someone call my name.

“Scott!” 

It's Jean and Betsy at the gym doors.

“Hey” I say as they walk up. Bobby and Hank keep walking.

“We got let out of our free period early and I thought we'd all walk to Lit together”

I smile knowing she thought of me but before I can answer he comes up to us.

“Slim! If you don't hurry up and get changed quick you'll be late to your next class. I don't want any other faculty member bitching to me about holding up students so don't make that my problem” he says as he saunters up.

“Hi Mr Howlett” Jean chirps, smiling and clutching her book to her chest. Betsy smiles quietly beside her.

“Hey there darlin's. How are you girls doing? Alright?” he has one of those lazy half smiles. It looks more like a snarl to me.

“Yeah, good thanks” They both say brightly.

“Good to hear. What have you got there?” He nods at the book she's holding.

“Oh, it's just what were reading next for class. The Great Gatsby. I just got more than half way through it” she shrugs but he holds out his hand to see it. She hands it to him and he has a quick flip through.

“Pretty thick book, probably couldn't get through it myself. But then I wasn't a smart girl like you in high school” he says as he passes it back.

Jean smirks “Aw i'm sure you were a very smart young girl in your day” 

I freeze, wide eyed, thinking that Jeans just poked the sleeping bear....but he says nothing. Instead he just makes what sounds like a sniffing noise through his nose and I think that's his way of laughing. Jean and Betsy are actually giggling at him even. 

“Pfft, I gotta watch what I say around you Jeannie” 

And that was it. There was no anger. No growling. No lectures. If I had made the same joke I bet i'd be tossed up through the hanging basketball hoop head first and he wouldn't let me come down till next week. Sometimes i'm glad to have my glasses since no one can tell when my eyes are bugging out of my head.

“Summers, what did I just say? Hurry up so you don't leave these ladies waiting much longer for your slow ass” I get barked at and I quickly turn on my heel.

Asshole.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I make us late.

The bell rings just as were rounding the hall and we quicken our steps. Betsy lets out a very un-subtle sigh of annoyance which I can tell is directed at me. Our teacher, the elderly Miss. Perkins, hates when students are late.

Jean cracks open the classroom door and peers in “Sorry” she winces and Miss. Perkins just looks down her glasses at us as we sheepishly slink into the room while all the other students stare at us. She doesn't even say anything and keeps her lips pressed thin.

“...As I was saying, I wanted to ask if any of you had made a start on the book since I handed it out last week?”

We took out seats, Jean in the middle of both me and Betsy, as only a hand full of students raised there hands. 

Emma was one of them. 

I hadn't noticed her when I walked in and had forgotten we had this class together. She sat a couple rows in front of us, her long hair slightly curled today as it hung over the back of her chair. She had a long sleeved white top on with a matching pleated mini skirt. I quickly wondered if she was going to wear white everyday?

“Ah, you're the new girl they'd told me i'd be getting” Miss. Perkins sniffed, scanning over her roster “Emma wasn't it? Are you sure you should have your hand up dear? Maybe you misunderstood the question .Do you even know what book we are currently reading?” 

I couldn't see Emma's face but her voice came out sharply “Considering most of the other students have a copy of the Great Gatsby in front of them, I think I can take a wild guess. And yes, I have read it before. A few times”

I smile and a few other students chuckle. Miss. Perkins was a miserable old women who talked down to everyone, served her right. She didn't look amused though.

“Well aren't you a smart girl” she said in an unsavoury tone “But i'd appreciate it if you could do us the courtesy of still reading along with us in class time, hrm?”

Emma didn't say anything in reply. Smart move.

A few moments after Miss. Perkins started taking the roll, we were instructed to start reading quietly while she went and got an extra copy of the book from the English office for Emma. I hadn't even started the first page when I heard Betsy turn to whisper to Jean. 

“I was talking to Warren the other day and you wont believe what he told me about Emma” 

I keep my eyes down at my book, listening in as I heard Jean ask “what?”

“Apparently she had a boob job”

I pull a face but manage not to look up.

“What! No way.... that can't be true” Jean says dismissively.

“No, no, he told me! A couple of years ago at some charity gala event they both went to with their families, one of those rich people things or whatever, and he saw her and she suddenly had massive ones when she had always been totally flat before. Boom, just like that, sprung up over night. Plus you can tell since they're so well placed and don't go up and down when she walks” Betsy talked like she was some kind of expert on the subject.

I have to try and get the image of Emma breasts out of my heads I stare intently at nothing at my open page. I could still hear the scepticism in Jeans voice. Good on you Jean. Don't fall for stupid gossip.

“ I thought you had to be at least over 18 to get them?”

“Not when you have parental consent, then you can get them at 16” 

“Really? Wow. I mean when I saw her I just thought she had some kind of ridiculous push up bra on but now that you mention it, they do look fake. They're too...round”

“Yeah, and I heard guys hate them. They feel different and they lose, like, total nipple sensation”

God how can girls just discuss this stuff in the middle of a class?It might be fine for them but it is flat out dangerous for a guy who has not gotten any in two months. I have to try really hard to block out anything to do with 'roundness' ' the feel of them' and the words 'nipple sensation'.

“You know maybe you shouldn't just automatically believe Warren” I butt in, making them both turn to me in surprise “Maybe he's just pissed that she didn't remember him yesterday and he wants to start a rumour” 

Jean and Betsy both frown at me 

“Warren wouldn't lie about that”

“Yeah, and he didn't even say it to be rude. It's just stating a fact”

I regret even opening my mouth as they both jump down my throat. I quickly throw up a hand in submission “Ok, sorry. Never mind”

God forbid I forsake the sacred name of Warren Worthington the third. Holy diety and idol of Xavier high who can do no wrong.

“Just...why don't you ask her first before you start talking about it?”

They look at me like i'm stupid.

“You can't just walk up to someone and ask about their breasts!”

Oh but discussing them at length behind their backs is? Girls.

I decide to give in and a second later Miss Perkins returns. The rest of class is a non- event but I can see Jean and Betsy pass notes back and forth from behind their books, laughing.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

At lunch I didn't see Emma. She didn't sit with us again and I couldn't see her over with Jean either. Not thinking much of it I assumed she must've met someone in a different class and was sitting with them somewhere. Half way through physics Hank reminded me she was supposed to be in our class but it didn't look like she'd shown up. I think a little more of that.

After last period ended and the final bell rang I head straight over to the gym to watch Jeans cheer practise. I haven't been to one in awhile but this time she had actually asked me too, which I was pretty happy about.

When I get there a few of the girls are warming up and stretching and messing around. Jean wasn't there yet. I'm a little early. Not many spectators around anyway though, usually there are more friends and boyfriends hanging around to watch. Though I do see Warren there right up the front joking with Betsy about something. I head straight to the back and pretend I didn't see them.

When Jean and the rest of the team emerges from the locker room and into the gym she spots me and waves. She breaks off from her friends and comes up the steps to say hi.

“Scott, can you watch my stuff? I don't want to leave it in the locker room since last week at practise Alison said her i-pod was stolen. I kind of think she might have just lost it again but I don't want to take chances”

Well she at least kisses me on the cheek when she dumps her backpack and gym bag on the bench next to me.

“Uh yeah, sure”

“Thanks!” she's about to run back down the stairs again but as I look up I spot him walk in the doors. Mr hairy canadian asshole himself.

“What is he doing here?' I ask out loud and Jean stops and turns back.

“Who? Mr. Howlett?” 

“Uh, yeah” I watch as he walk up to the girls and blow the whistle hanging around his neck. I can hear him bark out an order for the girls to run around the gym for a warm up. I am trying to comprehend this.

“Wheres your normal coach? The woman with the spiky ponytail and always wore velvet sweat pants?” I frown.

Jean looks at me blankly “...uh, Miss Stone was one of the teachers that got fired? Remember?”

“You didn't tell me that”

“Scott, the whole school made 'Miss Stoner' jokes for weeks, how could you have missed that?” She rolls her eyes.

“.....oh so that's what that was about”

“Anyway, Mr. Howlett was the only available gym teacher so he's our coach 'till they find a replacement” she explained, ready to head down to join the others who had already set off running.

“Wait” I stop her and she turns around again, this time looking impatient “They couldn't have gotten you guys a girl teacher? What does he even know about cheer leading anyway?”  
“Mrs. Cliffton and Mrs Rogers don't know anything about cheerleading either so it wouldn't have made any difference. Plus they were both busy and wouldn't agree to it, Mr Howlett did. We know all our routines and stuff anyway, we just need a teacher ti supervise because of school policies. Why, do you have an issue with it?”

Because he's an asshole. Because I don't think it's fair the you have to get stuck with him. Because he's probably just a pervy old man who wants to watch all the girls in their cheer uniforms. Because I hate him.

“I don't have an issue with it”

Jean looks like she's about to say something back to me but she's cut off by a voice calling out across the gym.

“Jeannie”

We both turn around as Mr. Howlett is glowering up at me, his arms folded.

“Jean, you need to get to training with the others. Summers. Get out” He says it bluntly. An order.

“What?”

“You heard me. Get out. You're a distraction”

I glare behind my glasses “I'm just sitting here?”

Arguing was obviously not the response he wanted to hear. He actually steps up to the bleachers and begins walking up to us. Jean looks back at me with wide eyes and a thin mouth, as if silently telling me not to start anything.

“Look, I know you must wanna come her and oggle your girl in her little cheer uniform like the hormonal little boy you are, but see she has others things she needs to be doing. And right now you're wasting her time and my time. So get out. Not at your leisure, i'm not asking, I mean now. Can you get that or do I need to say it again?”

I actually gape at him. Who talks like that? Does he think he's a drill sergeant? I'm glaring so hard he would be able to see it even through my glasses.

Jean isn't saying anything, she just stands behind himand is watching all of this happen. I can see the whole rest of the cheer team is watching too, having over heard. They're all waiting to see what happens.

I want to punch him in the face.

I want to stand up right now and push him down these stairs.

He could probably take me but i'm so mad I actually seriously consider that socking him one in the face would be worth it.

But of course after several tense seconds, that's not what I end up doing.

“Ok”

I grab my bag and get up, stalking past the both of them on my way down the steps. Everyones looking at me and I try not to make eye contact with any of them. As I get to the door I hear another whistle being blown and the asshole tells all the girls to fall in and get in their first formation. I half hope Jean would suddenly rush out after me, appalled over what just happens and saying she couldn't believe what a jerk he was. She'd say she could never be on the team when someone like that was running it and she would go on strike, then we would leave together hand in hand. I even slowed down my steps just in case.

But of course that didn't happen. I ended up making it to the end of the hallway and by now I could hear their loud dance music start up.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0oo0

Feeling particularily sorry for myself, I head out the front doors of the school and down the concrete steps. As I pull on my jacket I spot a blonde girl sitting on the railing near the bottom.

“Emma?”

The girl turns her head and I was right. It was her. 

“Oh, hello” she doesn't smile.

“You waiting to get picked up?”

She nods.

There's a silence where I can't think of anything to say, but i'm standing here like an idiot. I should say something.

“So, ah, I didn't see you at lunch. Did you find someone else to sit with?”

“ I kept my own company” she said sharply.

“Oh. And I didn't see you in chemistry either-”

“Probably because I didn't go”

I shut my mouth. She seems pissed. Granted she hadn't seemed like a peppy kind of person when i'd first met her, but I remember that talk in free period. It was just a slight change in the air around her, the way she said things. I should probably just leave her alone.

“...is the Great Gatsby actually any good? I haven't even started it. This term'll probably be really easy for you since you already know it so well anyway”

She gives me a look. God that was a dumb thing to bring up. Why do I even talk. Stop it Summers, just walk away now.

“You know they're making that new movie with Leonardo Dicaprio in it. I don't know when it comes out though, I just know my Mom wants to see it. I'll probably end up having to go see it with her since my Dad hates those kinds of movies”

Did I really just bring up going to the movies with my Mom? Jeez, I really did. Somebody stop me. I'm digging a hole for myself and I can't get out.

“I liked him in that blood diamond movie though. Everyone said his accent sucked in it but I actually thought it was pretty good considering-”

“My breasts are fake if you wanted to know”

I pause mid sentence. That shut me up. Emma is looking me right in the eye. I'm looking right back.

“Um, excuse me?”

“My tits. They aren't real. I did get plastic surgery when I was sixteen. It was a birthday present”

“Oh....oh.ok”

What the hell do I say to that?

I panic. I think back to that class when Betsy and Jean had been talking. I try to remember if they said anything really bad. I try to remember if I said anything bad.

“So....you, um, heard us in Lit class”

“Obviously” she sniffs.

Theres a tense silence.

“I....I'm really sorry about that”

I feel so awkward I want the ground to just open up and swallow me now but Emma actually smirks like she finds it funny.

“No offence, but that doesn't mean anything coming from you. You can't apologise on their behalf”

“Still, we shouldn't have really been saying that stuff...” I trail off “Was that why you ate lunch alone and didn't come to chemistry? Because...you know...”

“What? Because I was sad that ginger and her little goof troupe didn't like me and my fake tits, so I went to have a cry in the bathroom instead because I just couldn't face the day?” she smiled like it was meant to be funny but I didn't laugh. I just looked at her and she dropped her head to inspect on e of her nails.

“You know I don't even care if your girlfriend hates me, but I really do care if you start to feel sorry for me. That kind of thing makes me sick”

I end up dropping my bag down and taking a seat next to her on the railing. 

“I wouldn't...I don't thing she hates you-” I start but Emma scoffs.

“Oh please, i'm surprisingly used to people hating me and i've gotten pretty damn good at finding the signs by now”

She's smiling but theres no happiness behind it.

We sit in silence for awhile.

“Changing schools hasn't been that easy then, huh?”

She doesn't answer me straight away.

“I was practically the queen of my last school” she says with no trace of modesty “I wouldn't say everyone liked me but they were at least scared of me. This is a different game though. You're all so different here at public schools. I actually over heard one girl showing off the fact that her shoes only cost $3 at k-mart”

“You know i've been here for four years almost and I still don't feel like I 'fit in' that much, and it's only your second day”

“Oh god, don't give me the after school special talk. This isn't Degrassi junior high” she snaps dryly at me and I can't help but laugh.

“Ok, yeah, that was cheesy. Sometimes I can't help it” I shrug “But i'm just saying, in a way, I kind of get it. The people here...aren't always the easiest. Especially the girls. They all have their little groups they've had for years and I can imagine its hard to even try and get in there with them. Not that I claim to understand girls but I has to be hard”

She smirks “Don't try and understand girls Scott. Only girls can understand girls and that's why we all hate each other”

I smile and continue “And don't even feel bad if they don't end up liking you. They don't like me much either. I'm pretty much a certified loser in their books”

“A certified loser? What does that mean, you have a little certificate to authenticate how much of a loser you are? Is there a sign up sheet?” she jokes.

“What, to the officially certified loser club?” I smirk.

“Yes. Do they have that at this school? Listed right after the AV club in the school newsletter?”

“I dunno, so far it only has one member so I don't know if it really counts as a club yet”

I'm surprised that I am actually managing to keep a joke running. I'm usually the one who kills it.

“Well maybe you had better start it since it looks like I might just end up being its newest member” she says in mock seriousness “Do I get a membership card to this certified losers club?”

“You know I actually have my own label maker at home so I could probably make them”

She raises an eyebrow at me.

“.....It's pretty lame to have your own label maker isn't it?” 

“It really is”

A sleek black car pulls up in front of the steps and Emma pulls her purse up onto her shoulder.

“Your ride?” I say, admiring the car I know is a newer model Bentley.

“Good guess” she says as she stands up and heads over to get in the back seat.  
“You don't want a lift?” she offers but I shake my head.

“No thanks, I only live a ten minute walk away” 

She shrugs “Suit yourself” but before she leaves she turns to me again“And Scott?”

“Yeah?”

She smiles that same devilish smile I recognise from yesterday 

“You can tell Betsy and Jean that I do still have a lot of nipple sensation, thank you very much”

And with that she opens the door and slips into the car, leaving me staring after her as it drives off.

Well.

Ok then.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When I get home I notice Mom's car is in the driveway. I kick off my shoes on the porch and walk in, pulling off a sweet slide in my socks as I go around the floorboards of the hallway into the living room.

“Hey honey” Mom smiles up at me as she folds laundry in front of the TV.

“Hey” I call out as I immediately go to the kitchen and grab a coke from the fridge “You're not working tonight?”

“It was quiet today so they sent me home early. Technically i'm still on call but unless theres a five car pile up on the freeway I won't be going anywhere” she chirps, still in her blue scrubs as she sorts one of Dads old Hawaiian shirts into a neat pile. “How was school?”

“Good” I say automatically as I flop down on the sinking part of our ancient brown leather couch “What are you watching?”

“Dr Phil”

I should have guessed by the fat lady crying on stage. “Why do you even watch this?”

“You wanna try and find something else decent on at three thirty in the afternoon be my guest” she threw me the remote and I flipped through the channels. Greek news. Some pre-school show. The View and some french movie with subtitles. I click back to Dr Phil.

“If Dad ever hits it big with one of his novel can you promise cable will be the first thing we get?”as I say it , Cable limp into the room with his ears perked “Not you boy” I pat the spot next to me and he comes over and jumps up next to me so I can scratch him behind the ears.

“Oh, Scott, you know I don't like it when he gets on the couch. He malts everywhere” Mom only lightly scowls at me so I screw up cables face in my hands and point him at her.

“But how can you say no to this?” Cable let outs a little noise of annoyance.

“Hrm, fine. This time he can sit there” 

She doesn't know that I let him sit there every time she's out of the house. He sleep on my bed too. 

“And Dad's just gone out to meet with his publisher this afternoon and he's coming back with pizza. Because I don't feel like cooking on my night off”

“Sweet. Meatlovers from Sarpino's?”

“Do you boys eat anything else?” 

I rest back into the couch with Cable curled up next to me and sip my coke, watching as Dr Phil tells another red neck women to 'get real'. We sit in silence for awhile until I notice Mom keeps glancing at me from the corner of her eye.

“What?”

“What?”

“you were staring”

“No I wasn't”

I pull a face at her and she shrugs, balling together a pair of Alex's socks.

“It's just that you seem in a good mood, that's all. You've seemed a bit down the past week and I was wondering if anything interesting happened at school today to, I don't now, cheer you up”

I take this in. I liked to think I never moped around the house like some generically depressed teenager but I think mothers just had a sense to them. First I thought back to the cheer practise and Jean and Mr Howlett. It was like I had forgotten it until now.

Then my mind flashed to Emma.

“I can't think of anything” I shrug at her.

She seems to accept this answer “Well either way, I like seeing you a little happy so I hope it keeps up, whatever caused it” she smiled and picked up one of the many piles of neatly folded laundry, dumping it in my lap “Now go hang these up in your closet”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please know that I don't hate Jean and I wont be throwing her under a bus character wise. I'm not going to make her a crazy bitch for no reason, she and Emma are just going to clash.


	3. Pearl blonde in a box

The rest of my week felt very different to the majority of my life at Xaviers. You can guess it was because of Emma.

She'd taken to sitting with me, Hank and Bobby every lunch time and recess. Not that they minded. Hank found her witty and surprisingly smart for a girl with such peroxide blonde hair (His words not mine) and Bobby for obvious reasons. He seemed to have toned down the come-ons and trying to play it cool though and I think it's because he found her a bit unnerving. I think she managed to do that to a lot of people really. The way she walked through the halls reminded me of some high powered business executive, a confident strut with the kind of pace that suggested she had somewhere important to be and you'd better not get in her way. The way she flicked her blue eyes up and down people just seemed to shatter any nerve they had plucked up to talk to her. Mostly her face was cold and she wore a bored expression on her, but whenever she did crack a smile it could throw you completely off. It made you feel like she was in on some joke, like she knew something you didn't but she'd never tell. Like she could read your mind.

Or was that just me?

Even if she had managed to breeze by people without giving them a second glance all week, that didn't mean people hadn't been noticing her. We would be going down the hall to chemistry together and I noticed guys would crane their necks to watch her hips swaying as she walked away from them. I overheard some pretty gross discussions about 'the new girl' in the locker rooms after phy ed that I won't repeat. Everyone had started to gossip and wonder what she was even doing here at Xaviers. Two of the stupidest ones where that she was expelled from her last school for sleeping with a teacher and the other was that she was actually a famous English porn star from the internet. Of course the boob job story had spread through the school like wildfire, and I want to hope that's more Betsy's doing than Jean's. I even heard one girl in my politics class tell her friend she'd gotten them done in Mexico illegally to avoid the age laws. It actually bugged me more than her that all this bullshit was flying around. Emma had told me that she wouldn't lie to people about it, but that no one had actually come up to her directly so for all she cared they could make up what they wanted. I was kind of in awe about how little she seemed to care of what people thought of her.

Anyway, maybe I should mention how this impacted my life.

In some kind of weird satellite effect way, I had begun to get more noticed too.

I was the one she always seemed to hang around the most, walked to class with and sat next at lunch. I got the weird looks and I could tell what they were thinking

'what the hell is she doing with him?'

"what is he doing with her?'

And in a way I couldn't blame them. Hell, I felt the same. I had absolutely no idea why she actually hung around me, not that I was people asked I just kind of shrugged.

Jamie Maddrox asked me if I knew her out of school. Kurt Wagner had asked if we had connecting family friends. Pietro Maximoff had asked if I had paid her. I had just walked away from that last one, trying my best to ignore it as well as Emma.

Oh and if you're wondering what had happened with the fall out after that cheer practise, i'll tell you.

Nothing.

Jean didn't even mention it the next day and I wasn't going to be the first to bring it up either. I don't know what I expected, it's not like she had to apologise for anything, but still. The whole thing didn't sit right and it nagged at me even now. Plus my hatred for Mr. Howlett had gone up ten fold.

Another little thing had happened yesterday in math class as well. I'd been sitting with Jean and the other girls, as usual half tuned in-half staring out the window, when i'd been punched out of nowhere in the shoulder by Rogue.

"So how about you and that new girl huh Scotty?"

I hate being called Scotty. Not even my Mom can call me Scotty.

"What about it?" I shift in my chair uncomfortably now that all the focus seems to have shifted on to me.

"She just seems to be hangin' around you a lot is all" she shrugs innocently while giving me a very non-innocent look.

Kitty decides this is a good time to chime in "Yeah, you'd think she was trying to sink her claws into you or something"

All of a sudden jean lets out a splutter of laughter. I frown as she keeps laughing. She slowly lets up as she realises no one is laughing with her.

"Oh, oh god, sorry. That was just funny" she says, still giggling a little.

"Why?" storm asks "You'r not worried even a little about your boyfriend spending time with this girl?"

She spoke like I wasn't sitting right next to her.

"No" Jean says immediately , a smile still on her lips"No of course not. Scott's not that kind of guy"

"Not what kind of guy?" I ask, wanting to know exactly what she meant by that.

She shrugs looking for the words "You know...a player. A ladies man. The type of guy girls like Emma would go for" she puts a hand on my arm and smiles reassuringly, the exact same thing she'd done at the start of the week about that damn bag I didn't know the price of. I think i'm starting to realise its her 'you're stupid but I think it's cute' look "You're a nice guy Scott. I know nothing would ever happen between you two in, like, a million years"

She turns back to her friends "Plus I think he's the only guy in school who can probably put up with her so far. Got to give him props for that"

Like I said, it was just a little thing, but it still bugged me. Anyway I tried to push them both out of my mind since it was Friday today and it was already half over. The weekend was close. Not that I had anything to do but still. Weekend.

I see Jean and her friends up ahead circled around someone locker, laughing. As I step closer I see that it's Warren. Jean has a hand on his arm.

"Hey guys" I decided to announce loudly over the laughing as I step up to them, putting my arms not so subtly over Jean's shoulders. She drops her arm and looks up at me quickly.

"Oh, Hey Scott"

The laughter dies. I killed it.

"So what's everyone laughing at?" I ask.

"Just something Warren said" Betsy was the first to answer.

"Yeah just something stupid" Jean waves it off.

I look at Warren, his eyes flit past mine to look at his English text book like it's suddenly fascinating. My eyes dart around the circle to the rest of the girls, all of whom look really awkward.

"..what?" I ask flatly.

No one answers for a second as they all exchange of a sudden a bored voice comes from across the hall at another locker.

"They were talking about that new girl your friends with, the one who wears white a lot. Warren just made a joke and called her Frosty the snow queen. That's why they were all laughing"

There was a tense silence as Layla Miller, one of the stranger girls at Xaviers, finished speaking. She smiled at the girls and shut her locker "I know stuff" and then she just walked off to class looking pleased with herself.

I frown as I let this sink in and I can feel Jean slink out from under my arm.

Okay so this was not so much a little thing.

"Um, so were gonna go get to class" Betsy says quickly,pulling Warren away by the arm and the others nodding as they all made their quick getaway. Jean looked like she wanted to run off with them. She was so caught.

"I thought you were going to be nicer to her" I said stiffly.

Jean was immediately on the defensive "Yeah, well that's easy for you to say! While you've been running around with her she might be fine, I don't know, but that doesn't mean she's any nicer to the rest of us!" she snaps "I have tried to talk to her but she's so...so.."

"Blunt? Sarcastic?" I offer.

"I was going to say bitchy"

"Oh"

"And the way she walks down the halls like she owns the place already, doing that stupid side to side butt shake that is totally unnecessary. The way she totally judges you with her eyes when you walk past. Even when she does smile it's not friendly, it's like an evil smile. Like she knows what you did last summer. I bet she's secretly a serial killer"

"I think you're reading into a bit too much.." I suggest lightly, knowing that I had read into exactly the same things just in a different way.

"Maybe you're not reading into them enough" she counters.

"So you don't like It that I'm hanging out with her?" I ask.

"Oh no, it's fine. Good actually"

I frown "Um, why?"

"Because this way I don't have to hang out with her anymore and plus, you can keep an eye on her" she explained it like it was simple.

"Keep an eye on her?" I repeat, seeing if I heard right.

"Yup. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. You can get close to her and then come back to us with what you know. We heard that she got expelled from her last school for-"

"For sleeping with a teacher" I finish, giving her an unimpressed look "I know, I heard. So you were the one who started that"

"No!" she said, offended "...it was Warren"

"Oh yeah the most credible of sources" I roll my eyes " I also heard she was an internet porn star, was that you guys too?"

"Ok, that one was just a joke. We didn't think people would believe us. Stop looking so angry!"

"I'm not angry. Just disappointed"

"Oh my god, you are such a Mom sometimes" Jean mutters, folding her arms.

I give her the most disapproving glare I can manage through my glasses.

"I'm not going to hang out with Emma just to be your groups little gossip lackey.I'm going to hang out with her because it's the decent thing to do and I don't like to see bullying-"

Jean scoffs "Puh-lease, it's not bullying if the girl is an ego-centric bitch-"

"-Excluding people is a type of bullying" I continue regardless "Remember that seminar we had at the start of the year?"

"I should have known you would be the only person who stayed awake through that" she cracks a smile but I stay serious. She weakens. "Uh, fine. You win again. Theres a party on tomorrow night at Theresa Cassidy's house. We were invited and you can tell her she can come along with us...but i'm not talking to her unless she talks to me first"

"And you'll be nice?"

"I will be amiable"

"Good enough"

"And you have to be the sober one who drives us me home at 1 am"

"Deal"

We shake on it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o

"So there's a party on saturday night were invited too"

Both Emma and Hank turn to me as they look up from their chemistry books. It's a theory lesson and we were just copying down notes at our desk.

"Who's" Hank immediately asks.

"Theresa Cassidy"

"The red head who always shrieks really loudly all the time?"

"Yup, that's her" I nod.

"And were we actually invited-" Hank points to himself and then Emma "-or were you given a token invite by Jean and you are now re-extending that token invite to the both of us?"

I tilt my head slightly to indicate that he was completely right without actually answering. I decide to leave out any thing about the deal with Jean.

"I already texted Bobby and he's in as well"

Hank nods "Alright then, a social outing is on the agenda. I'll get out my dancing shoes"

"Do they make dancing shoes in your size?" Emma asks coyly.

"I actually just recycle clown shoes and throw some glitter on them. I pull them off quite well if I do say so myself"

We quieten down as the teacher strolls past the desks on patrol, checking over our exercise books to see if we've at least gotten anything down. I half a half page of scrawled diagrams and theories, Hank has almost written out the book word for word and Emma had already set out all her copied information under neat headlines and ruled margins. He nods and walks on and we continue talking.

"Not that i'm complaining about spending a saturday night out, but we usually don't get to tag along to the things Jean invites you too. Any reason this one is different?" Hank asks and I shrug.

"She said I could ask people along this time"

Which isn't a lie, even if she did only specify I could invite one person. All the parties i'd attended in the last year i'd only been a plus one to Jean too all these big house parties of people I didn't even know. I'd end up trailing after her from room to room with no else to talk too or i'd just find a place to sit and wait until I drove us, and maybe a couple of her drunk friends, home. And people wondered why I wasn't a party person. I decided that I would invite Bobby and Hank as well as Emma along too because she hadn't said I couldn't after all. I didn't feel guilty about it. Now i'd at least have some of my own company.

"Is there a dress code? It's not going to be some kind of barn dance party jamboree or anything is it?" Emma asks.

"This is North Salem, New York not rural Mississippi" I point out to her.

"Well judging by the amount of hideous tan boots and jean skirt combo's i've seen lately, forgive me for second guessing"

Looking at the way Emma had consistently dressed this past week, I doubted the word 'casual' was in her vocabulary. Today she had on a white and beige check skirt with a white cardigan that had little jewels were the buttons should be. They might have even been real, I couldn't tell, but I wouldn't out it past her. It might have looked quite refined and school girlish, if the skirt wasn't incredibly short and the cardigan didn't cling so tightly to her figure.

"I don't know the dress code" I say honestly "...semi-casual? The girls usually wear dresses and heels"

"Just dress formal. Cover all bases by just looking totally glamourous in a floor length evening gown, no matter what everyone else is wearing. No one gets dressed up to go out these days and it's a damn shame,Dress to the nines I say!" Hank says with a flourish and Emma laughs.

"I always dress to the nines, don't you worry, though I might skip the floor length evening gown. Even if I do have a new Marchesa i've been dying to wear"

I assume this is some other fancy brand she's talking about.

"-and I think i'll stick to an equally stunning mini dress. I'll go shopping and see if I can't find something dripping in sequins"

"You'll match my glittery clown shoes!"

I really hope he is joking about owning those but i'm not sure.

"Oh and Scott?" Emma turns to me "How are you getting there?"

"I'm borrowing my Dad's car. Why, do you need a ride?"

"If you could manage it, yes. I could use the town car but Gerard always reports back to my Father about where he takes me and he never likes to hear that i've been out at parties. If you come and pick me up around six neither of them will notice though"

"Yeah, sure. I can do that. You need a ride Hank?"

"If I remember right I only live fifteen minutes from Theresa's house if I cut across a nearby park. I can walk. The exercise will put me in a good mood to be social"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

That night at work I had gotten my isle finished early and was told to help Tandy in the beauty isle just to neaten the shelves. Tandy was a nice girl, a year older than me, but she looked maybe fifteen. She was very chatty and i'd learnt before that she had done drugs in high school and had to drop out when it was only her junior year and actually go to rehab. This might make her sound scary, and I admit it did stun me, but she was a tiny little blonde who still looked sixteen and was generally the nicest person i'd ever met. I don't think i'd ever seen her not smiling. Sometimes her peppiness got a little too much and I had to force a smile whenever she waked past my isle and told me to 'turn that frown upside down' but generally she was alright. Still, drugs doesn't do much for your education and that's why she's stuck stacking shelves.

I'm in front of all the boxes of hair colours arranging them neatly so they all line up. All of the women with shiny photoshopped hair and teeth are smiling back at me from the Loreal, schwarzkopf and pantene boxes. Theres every different colour imaginable. I look up top at the Blondes. Theres nordic blonde, honey blonde, wheat blonde, platinum, ash and golden...but none of them quite look like Emma's kind of blonde. I don't even know why I think of it but my eyes keep scanning over the boxes until I spot it. The shade closest to hers. Pearl it up, I turn it over in my hands. I feel like it a name that fits, it sounds rich. Makes me think of the colour white...

"Checking out the hot models on the hair boxes there , are you?" Tandy laughs and i'm jolted out of my train of thought.

"Hah, no" I put it back quickly.

"Good, it'd be super awkward to explain to Jean that you were making goo goo eyes at a cardboard box" she laughed again.

I give her a curtesy smile and dropped down to start bringing forward the hair removal creams.

"So I heard you and Jean are going to Theresa's party tomorrow night?" Tandy said brightly as she organised bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

"You know Theresa?"

"Yeah, we used to be neighbours until I moved a couple years ago. We still keep in touch and our families are close. She was actually one of the few people who bothered to keep contact with me after I got out of rehab"

"Cool, are you going to know anyone else there?"

"Well she's letting me bring my boyfriend, Tyrone, since she's met him before, plus one more of my friends. It seems like it's going to be a huge party" she says excitedly.

"yeah, it feels like most of my year is going"

"You don't sound very hyped for it. Come on, wheres you're enthusiasm! Yay party!" she actually clapped her hand together out of pure peppiness.

"I'm not much of a party person.." I shrug awkwardly while her shoulders slump.

"Aw, scott, that's no good! Maybe you just haven't been too that many good parties. You just need to get in the spirit of it and make this the best party you've ever been too!" she beamed at me and I tried to smile encouragingly back.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o

I wake up the next morning and stare at my ceiling. It was Saturday. D-day. That mean't day of the party. I guess technically it should have been called P-day, but that sounded gross. And that's the short and pointless story of why I went with D-day.

Most of D-day is uneventful. I get up, have breakfast with the family. Its the one meal of the week Mom insists we all eat together. I don't know why since me, Alex and Gabriel just end up arguing over something stupid like who puts too much butter on their pancakes or who hogged the best bit of bacon. Mom calls it bonding.

I take Cable for a walk around the park and he chases flocks of pigeons while I sit on a bench for awhile. I get a text from Bobby asking me how many condoms he should bring tonight. I texted back zero. He sent a pissed off looking emoticon back.

Alex has Lorna around in the afternoon and I end up watching star wars V: The empire strikes back with them. Until half way through the movie when Lorna complains that she's bored and wants to watch something different and her and Alex start to fight. I leave the room without them noticing as they began calling each other names. I happened to walk past fifteen minutes later and they were making out.

I don't get them.

Then it reaches five o'clock and it's time to get ready. I have a shower and wash my hair, towelling it dry before I pull on my boxers and glasses. I stand in front of my wardrobe mirror. I try and flex my arms a little. It doesn't do much. I mean I have muscles, I need to just to move all the heavy boxes at work, but i'm just not..bulky. You could say i'm toned and there's not an ounce of fat on me but i'm still tall and lanky. Mom jokes that my legs are like drain pipes. I look at my hips. Maybe they are girlish.

"What are you doing, you spaz?"

"Get out of my room Alex!" I snap as a shove him out of my doorway and shut the door.

Mom won't let us get locks on our door. I still put it down on my christmas wish list every year.

I pull on my good jeans and dark grey t-shirt. It looks plain. I search further back into my wardrobe and find a lighter grey, dressier shirt. I pull it on but leave it un-buttoned and roll up the sleeves a bit.

I quickly dash down the stairs and turn into the kitchen where Mom and Dad are sitting at the dining room table cutting out discount coupons from the newspaper.

"Does this look ok?" I ask and they both look up.

"Oh, you look so handsome, hunny bunny" Mom gushes and I cringe.

"kathy, come on, ease up on the kiddy names. Look at this guy, he's a man! A damn fine good looking one at that. It's the summers genes, were built to pull the women! Come on son, show me your lady killer smile" Dad pulls his own, at least what he probably thinks it is, 'lady killer smile'.

How could anyone have expected me to turn out cool when I got my genes from these guys?

I head back up stairs to grab my phone. I pause before heading back down and look down at my socks. I hadn't thought about footwear. Should I wear my beaten up old k-mart shoes? I think for a second before sneaking down the hallway and into Alex's room. Luckily he's down stairs playing x-box right now so I open up his closet and grab a pair of his navy blue vans, the ones he got last christmas. I slip them on and thank the universe for blessing us with the exact same shoe size. This way I don't need to blow money on decent shoes when I can just swipe his occasionally. Sure, if he finds out I took them I will be subjected to a hissy fit, but worth it.

"Okay, i'm off" I call out as I bound down the stairs to the door, grabbing Dad's car keys from the side table.

"Bye hunny!" Mom calls out.

At least she left out the 'bunny' bit this time.

"Knock 'em dead tiger!"

There was no saving grace with Dad.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Dads car is a sad old station wagon that he's managed to keep running from way back when the first bought it in the eighties. If anything screams lame it is this car, but beggars can't be choosers. Any ride is better than no ride. Just.

I drive for about twenty minutes until I reach the area I know Emma lives in. She gave me her address on a scrap of paper after school yesterday and i'd looked it up google maps. As I pull up outside the tall iron wrought gates I just kind of gape a little bit. The entire property is surrounded by a high, red brick wall that's covered in Ivy. I can see through to the house which is up a cobblestone driveway that had to have been at least a hundred metres long.

So much for just honking the horn. I step out of the car and push against the gates which, of course, don't budge one bit. Is there a doorbell out here? As I stare there blankly I hear a faint bussing sound above my head, jumping as I notice a mounted camera on the gate post zooming down on me. A voice box crackles to life from against the wall.

"Can I help you?" a vaguely foreign sounding voice asks statically over the intercom.

"Um, yeah, hi" I say, hoping i'm talking into the right part of the box "Is, ah...does Emma live here? Emma Frost...i'm a friend from school"

Theres a brief silence.

"...Come in then"

Theres a sudden drawn out beeping sound as the gates swing inwards. I go to start walking.

"Bring your car up to the door" The voice says flatly. I can actually feel her thinking i'm stupid.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

By the time I actually get up to the grand double doors of the mansion/castle/mini -Taj-Mahal, I don't even have to knock as the door is jerked open in front of me. I stand there with my first already half raised. The maid who answers looks wide eyes at me and takes a step back like i'm going to punch her. I quickly lower it again.

"Uh, hey" I say awkwardly, wondering how many people actually staff this house. She invites me in and quickly leads me through the house and up a grand staircase. I try and stare at everything at once. The floor look like one big solid slab of marble, and the first floor had incredibly high ceilings and a crystal chandelier was in the foyer. I could see through into a sitting room that had a massive fire place and a proper grand piano sitting in the corner. The walls of the hallways on the top floor had a tonne of old, expensive looking, paintings and vases on stands that would probably make a mint on antiques roadshow. Not that I ever watch that ...often.

We go up yet another, smaller, flight of stairs to what had to be a third storey (god this place was huge) and arrive outside a pair of white double doors.

"Miss Emma, you is having guest arrive, yes?" the young women calls out in broken english as she taps on the wood.

"Send him in"

The maid gives me a nod before heading back the way she came and I hesitantly push open the door. "Hello?"

"You're early"

I look over and see Emma sitting with her back to me as she sits on a stool in front of one of those large vanities. She's looking at me in the reflection of the mirror and gives me a faint smile.

"I thought you said six?" I step in and close the door behind me, taking a quick look around. Her room was about as big as our living room, dining room and kitchen combined. The carpets were a creamy beige with one big big fluffy white rug on top. Her bed was queen size and had a huge head board and about a dozen different silk pillows piled on top of it. All the furniture was white and part of a perfectly matching set, and I could see there was a door that ran through to her own en-suite bathroom and another next to that that looked like a huge walk in closet. She had her own smaller crystal chandelier hanging over the middle of her room too.

"I know I said six, but since when is anyone ever on time?" she says as I notice she's still in a short, silky robe as she puts in one of her earrings. My eyes happen to glance down at the hemline that's creeping dangerously up her thigh. For a second my mind flashes to the possibility that she might not be wearing anything underneath it and I blink quickly and try and look anywhere else but there.

"So, ah, how long do you think it'll take you to get ready?" I say,stepping awkwardly around her room, running my eyes up and down a row of photographs she has along one of her shelves.

"Why, does it matter?"

"No, no. Take your time"

"I shouldn't be much longer anyway, just finishing up my makeup and then i'll get into my dress and i'll be ready. It never hurts to be a bit fashionably late anyway" she says, brushing some powder or another on her face.

I look at her photographs. Theres one of her and her sisters that must've been taken at some dinner party. Her older sister is hogging the fore ground of the picture with her eyes half lidded and smiling with too much teeth, while her younger sister sat in the back looking moody with a dark buzzcut hairdo and too much eyeliner. Emma sat in the middle with a bored look on her face. The one next to it is in a bigger frame and has her on a beach wearing a very small bikini looking tanned, while a dark haired guy has his arm draped around her waist. I screw up my nose at him. He's incredibly muscular and looks much older than her, and he's wearing a pair of tight green speedo's.

They look stupid.

"Who's this? I try to ask casually and she takes a look at the photo as a I point to it.

"Oh, that's Namor, just some guy I had a fling with a couple of summers ago when I wen't with the family to the Greek isles"

"Namor?" I can't help but sneer.

"Mm, he's foreign"

Well that explained the speedo's.

The next picture along is a young brunette girl with a neat shoulder length hair cut, accepting an award and shaking some old guys hand. Theres a caption at the bottom. 'Emma's middle school graduation'.

"Oh wow, that's you?" I ask, actually picking it up to peer more closely.

"God, don't you dare look at that. Middle school pictures are tragic" Emma sighs from across the room a she sprays something through her hair.

"You look so... different. You're not a natural blonde" I say, genuinely surprised.

"Mm, well who wants to live with horrible mouse brown hair anyway"

"It still suits you" I shrug, putting the picture back "You looked cute back then"

She smirks "And I don't look cute now?"

It's a trap.I have to play this delicately.

"Well...you look a lot of things but ah...i think you developed past cute quite awhile ago"

"Good answer" Emma smiles approvingly, stepping up from her stool and striding over to her bed where she had two different dresses laid out on the covers on their hangers. "Now, I wan't your opinion, what one do I wear?" she asks, holding them both up, laying each against her for me to look at.

They're both tiny looking mini dresses, but the first is one shouldered and looks like it was made of of a metallic silver material, the other was white and simple, with spaghetti straps. I point to this one.

"The white one"

"Ooh, the Calvin Klein. Good choice" she says as she heads into her walk in wardrobe, not fully closing the door behind her so we can still talk "And well done on not answering with some typical 'I don't care, they both look good' answer that most boys use. I hate that"

I smile to myself. She said I wasn't like most boys. Take that Namor. I sneer at his smug face over on the shelves until I realise i'm showing off to a picture. I wonder why I even care but I don't have too long to think about it as Emma quickly re-emerges back into the room in her dress. The bottom of it is swisher than it looked on the hanger, the material swaying around the top of her legs as she walked. It shows of her figure but it's not actually that tight, more slinky, like you could just slip it right off her with one pull.

Ok, wow, my mind went to that pretty fast.

"Um, looks nice" I mumble.

"Thank you. Can you zip me up?"

I blink. "Wha?"

"My dress, can you reach the zipper for me?" she states again, turning around so her back faced me.

She pulled her long hair over one of her shoulders, exposing the entire stretch of creamy skin from the nape of her neck to the small of her back. She clearly wasn't wearing a bra.

I stand there stupidly for a second just staring.

"Scott?"

"Ah, yeah, right. Sure. No problem" I stammer as I step closer to her.

I suddenly feel entirely aware of everything around me. My lips are dry. I can practically feel my heart beat in my throat.I inhale and I can smell her perfume, the shampoo she uses. It's nice and I want to take another deep breath but i'm too close to her now. I put one hand on the material of the dress as I use the other to slowly pull up the zip.

"Do it gently, it's expensive" She instructs but her voice has a softness to it. I don't know if it's just me but it sounded more like a pur.

She seems to arch her back just a fraction as I'm pulling. Her skin looks so smooth. I notice one faint freckle just below her left shoulder. As the zip reaches the top it must have only taken seconds but it felt much longer. I pause for a second before she moves her head slightly, glancing at me over her shoulder. It's like I come to my senses and take a big step back.

"There you go" the words rush out "all good, didn't break it. Good thing too since I probably couldn't afford to replace half of it if I did" I laugh nervously as Emma goes over to her dresser and grabs a small purse with a long chain that she puts over her shoulder.

"So, um, ready to go?"

She gives me a wry smile as she coats her lips in the mirror with a pale lipstick, dropping it in her purse and snapping it shut.

"Only if you are"


	4. Russian vodka

Were driving along in silence.

I keep glancing over occasionally at Emma every other stop light but she's busy gazing out the window.

Should I talk? What is there to talk about? Is this a good silence or an awkward silence? I try and think of something interesting to say, anything at all. I come up blank. Ok, brain,Whatever you do, just don't mention something so lame and boring as the weather.

"So...the sky's pretty clear tonight"

Damnit Summers.

"Mmm" Emma hums in agreement.

Back to the silence.

Good job me, well done. Great effort.

We end up getting to the party just past seven thirty, so not that late at all. Cars were already pulled up on the verge so I went to park opposite the house on the grass of the park. Hm, parking on a park. That sounds strange when you say it.

"Wow, the houses around here are small aren't they" Emma says absentmindedly as she stares out the window.

They really aren't. They're what the average person would call a decent upper middle class home. Obviously Emma was not an average person, as Theresa's house was probably 1/8th the size of her backyard.

Emma unbuckles her seatbelt and tries opening the door, but it doesn't budge. She tries again, rougher this time.

"Oh, uh, it's broken so you can't open it from the side. You have to wind down the window and reach out to get to the handle on the outside" I explain.

Emma looks slightly appalled at the state of Dad's old station wagon. It wasn't exactly a Bentley, i'll admit.

She was half way through trying to wind down the stiff, non-electric, window but but by then i've already gotten out and around to her side to open the door for her.

"It seemed quicker" I smile "Good effort though"

"Why can't you just get another car if this one's broken?" Emma asks as she slips out and throws her purse over her shoulder, while I re-wind the window and shut the door behind her. She says it so casually, like buying a new car isn't much of a big deal. Which for her it probably wasn't. You could probably buy a new ford fiesta with the spare change thats slipped down the cushions of the frost mansions plush couches.

"It's got sentimental value. The old family car"

I don't feel like pointing out the fact that my family doesn't have much money. Not that i'm ashamed of it or anything, I know money isn't important in the grand scheme of things and all that jazz, but I don't know. Maybe it was because it would just be pointing out one of the more glaring things that made us so different to each other.

The door was already wide open to let people in and I could hear the music playing, some generic pop song I had heard everywhere but didn't know the name of. People were milling about in the hall in groups and we walked past what looked like the dining room, which had the table and chairs pushed to one side and a proper DJ's turntable and equipment all set up, with a few people already dancing.

Theresa had gotten a proper DJ table for this thing? Oh isn't just a casual get together party, this was a party-party. I looked around, and while seeing a lot of familiar faces from school, I saw there were a lot I didn't recognise too. I knew Tandy, her boyfriend and another plus one was coming and I wondered if other college age kids would show up too.

You can probably tell by now that I am not much of a party person.

Hell, people who've known me for twenty minutes can figure that out.

"Everyone has those little red cups, like from the movies. How quaint" I hear Emma say as she runs her eyes across the crowd.

"What, did you and your friends all drink cheap alcohol from crystal glasses at every party?" I try and joke.

Emma gives me a look that says i'm actually right on the money "Our alcohol wasn't cheap either"

"Scott!"

I turn as I see Jean and Kitty slip their way past a group of girls as she comes over to us, their own red cups in hand.

"Hey" I smile as Jean actually gives me a proper kiss on the mouth as a greeting. Wow, she hasn't done that in awhile. I suddenly feel awkward knowing that Emma and kitty are watching and pull away quick. Public displays of affection aren't my forte. I'd have to get her alone later.

That came out creepy.

"You guys came together?" Jean gives me a light frown, gesturing to Emma with her cup before taking a sip.

"Uh, yeah, she needed a lift" I try and say it as casually as I can. Because that's what it was. Just a casual friend giving someone a casual lift to a casual party. I might have casually helped her get dressed...but still...casually.

"Oh. Ok then"

Jean looks at Emma and I can't read her expression but her arm slinks around my waist, Emma meets her gaze, just as unreadable. Both Kitty and my eyes are darting between the both of them.

After an unbearable pause (it was probably five seconds in total) Jean speaks.

"Your shoes are really pretty" she smiles, looking down at Emma's white strappy heels.

"Thank you. Your hair look's much better straightened" Emma repays her compliment, a little backhandedly.

I see Jean glance to me quickly before the two smile stiffly at each other.

"So, wheres the alcohol?" Emma asks bluntly.

Kitty answers and starts to lead her too the kitchen. I go to follow but I feel a tugging at my arm. A hard tugging.

"Can I talk to you for a sec Scott? You guys go ahead" she smiles over to Emma and Kitty, who look us up and down for a second before heading off.

For a second I think this is great. Maybe she had the same idea I had about alone time and wants to continue that kiss. Score.

"So you gave Emma a lift, huh?"

swing and a miss.

"Uuuh.."

"Scott, you already said you did" Jean smirks.

"Ok, yes, I did" I say quickly, not knowing why I feel defensive over this. It's not like I have anything to hide. I shouldn't feel guilty or anything. I mean I barely got turned on by helping her get into her dress.

Ok, i'm getting ahead of myself. Lets not even think of the dress part. She's only asking about the ride in your car.

I've been silent for too long, Jean's looking at me expectantly.

"So?" she presses "Did you go to her house?"

"Yes" I swallow.

"Did you go inside?"

"Yes" I think i'm clenching my jaw unwittingly.

"Did you see her room?"

"...Yes" Is it possible to feel your heartbeat in your throat?

Jean's paused again.

Maybe I should just fall to my knees and admit the fact that I maybe have possibly kind of sorta briefly been attracted to Emma for a moment and a half and then beg and grovel for forgiveness, promising her that she is the only girl for me and that she's so pretty and perfect?

Then maybe kissing would possibly still happen?

"So? What was it like?"

"...What?"

"Her house! Is it huge? A real mansion like Warren has or something? Like is she for real rich or was she just exaggerating? Did you see her closet? I have a bet with kitty that 95% of her clothes are white. And please tell me her bedroom is tacky" Jean is grinning.

Oh. ok then. I can work with this reaction as well I guess.

"Ummm, yeah. Yeah she'd definitely for real rich. Maids and everything" I mumble and Jean gapes.

"Maids?Oh my god"

"Yup. But they don't have those black and white outfits that girls copy for halloween. They're just kind of...grey" I ramble on, Jean listening intently "And um, yeah.I don't think her bedroom was tacky though or anything"

"Describe?"

"Uuum, well she has white fur rugs and some mini chandelier thing-"

"Ha! Ok, you don't need to continue, I know it's tacky then" Jean laughs and sighs "Phew, ok, i'm done now. Good job though, scouting her place out. I thought it would take you forever to get an invite to her house, I was thinking i'd have to wait forever to find that stuff out"

She goes to walk off and follow the others but this time I stop her.

"Woah, wait, ok. Stop" I hold up a hand and she frowns at me lightly "you aren't actually still serious about this little gossip lackey thing you mentioned yesterday, are you? You said you were done with that"

"I said no such thing" Jean smiles to herself, shrugging.

"You said you were going to be nice from now on" I press.

"Yeah, I know. And I am, I promise to uphold that on my end while you still hang out with her and report back whatever new stuff you find out about her"

She says it like it's perfectly reasonable.

"Jean, that's really stupi-"

"And don't think of it as gossip. This is solely about factual information, which you will be getting straight from the source"

Jean must have noticed that my lips had gone into a very thin line.

"Look, I can't commit to being friends with this girl yet because there's something just off about her. Call me a cliché character from scooby doo, but I got a bad feeling about this. I want to know everything I can about her before I fully trust her and have her come into our circle of friends-"

She means her circle of friends.

"But now, I have you to get to know her for me" she puts a hand on my arm.

"I don't like this"

"Urgh, Scott. Come on. Hey, think of it this way, maybe you're the right one and she's fantastic and then you can tell us that and it will all turn out wonderful. If that's the case i'll totally trust you on you're call and i'll gladly hang out with her"

"Why can't you trust me on my call I've already made and hang out with her now?" I say a little sharply.

Jean gives me a tight smile and gives my arm a little pat "Not that I don't want to be optimistic, but give it time. You barely know this girl, and good girls don't get expelled for nothing"

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Kitchen isn't as busy or loud as the rest of the house, with only a few people mingling about,but the counter top is already littered with bottles, most empty or half full, of soda and cheap alcohol people had managed to bring. There was also a huge punch bowl in the middle.

"That's what i'm having" Jean announces as I grab one of the plastic cups. She hold her own out to me "Come on Scott, try it, it's really good. Theresa said her and Monet came up with the recipe themselves this afternoon"

Jean doesn't seem to notice that our little chat has gotten to me a little, that or she's tactfully ignoring it. I'm annoyed at her. I can't help it. She's usually not like this with people. The way she's treating Emma seems so...un-Jean, and I don't know why. Because she had a bad feeling about her? Why has she never had that with anyone else?

I let the brief thought slip into my head that maybe she's right, maybe Emma is bad news.

No. I can't think like that too. I've got to be fair. Plus, whatever Jean and the rest of the schools feelings towards Emma were, so far I kind of did like her. So what if she had gotten expelled, it was probably for something so mundane it wasn't even worth mentioning.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts as a cup full of bright orange liquid if pushed in front of my face.I take a sip and my eyes widen "God Jean, how much vodka have they got in this?"

Jean takes back the cup and looks in it "Uh, I dunno. It just tastes nice. Plus I thought they used Malibu?"

I finally noticed Kitty and Emma were standing just across the little makeshift bar from us as Kitty spoke "I think they used both,... and gin and peach brandy...I think that's what Monet told me. I asked for the recipe" she counted off ingredients as she went to fill her own cup again "This stuff is just really good"

Jean just shrugged as she finished the last of what she had "It mostly tastes like pineapple to me anyway, but come on, have some?"

I reach for the bottle of coke zero "I'm driving".

Jean turns to Emma, who so far had been inspecting the five dollar boxes of wine with a turned up nose, and rolls her eyes "Do you know that this guydoesn't drink, like, at all? Ever?"

"He's such a good boy" Kitty laughs, putting on a voice "Never been drunk once"

"He's like a little boy scout. My little boy scout" jean giggles as she wraps her arms around me and gives me a hug from behind. I kind of give her an awkward pat with my arm from 's embarrassing. Not the fact that I don't drink, that's always been my choice and I stick by it, but I can see Emma is watching all this and I can't tell if she's trying not to laugh or not.

Luckily a distraction comes along.

"HEEEEEEEEY YOU GUYS!" A loud shriek comes from around the corner with an un-mistakable Irish accent. This is how Theresa generally announced herself into a room. There was no emotion or mood that wasn't expressed in some kind of overtly loud way. Still, she was very likeable. Hence her huge parties.

Jean immediately lets go off me and her and Kitty leap into Theresa's arms. Theres lots of cooing and hugging. Girlfriend stuff. I'm glad guys don't have to do that with their friends because I would be terrible at it.

"Do you really not drink?" Emma asks me as she steps over to me while the other girls chat, takeing a cautious sip of the bright yellow punch. She takes a second "Hm, it's not bad actually"

I shake my head in answer to her question "Nope, never"

I try not to think about Jean's plan. It might sound stupid but I feel like if I think about it too hard Emma will know about it. And it's not like i've of any kind of angle myself. I'm just going to hang out with Emma like I have been for the past week, and then when everything goes completely fine I'll tell Jean who will have to admit she was wrong about her after all, and then everybody will be friends. Easy. Simple.

...Why doe's this still seem complicated?

Anyway, Emma is here and talking to me. I try and push all other thoughts from my head.

"Why not?" she asks.

"Well, technically it is illegal.." I trail off. She's giving me the look everyone else gives me when I tell them that.

''Technically jaywalking is illegal too" she points out.

I refuse to get into a debate over drinking vs non-drinking. I used to defend myself but that got old fast. I have accepted the fact that it is not cool and I don't even try and convince people otherwise anymore.

"Did you know in the state of new york it's also illegal for women to wear 'body hugging clothing' in the street" I try and de-rail the conversation as I sip my coke.

"No it isn't. Really?" Emma frowns and I nod.

"You can google it if you want"

She actually gets out her phone.

I smile to myself as she taps away for a moment.

"Oh my god, your right. God, I should be considered a bona fide felon by now" she smooths her hand over her figure "I don't think I own anything that isn't body hugging

"You'll be on america's most wanted before you know it"

She actually smiles at me attempt at a joke. Yes. That's a win. It's not an outright laugh but i'll take what I can get.

"You'll have to promise not to turn me in" her eyes glint.

"I dunno about that, depends on how big the reward is for your capture"

Just then I feel a slap on my back. It's Hank. I turn around and immediately let out a grin when I see him and Bobby. I actually have to stop and stare, along with half the room.

"Well, what do you think?" Hank poses and gestures down. He's waring a full blown, three piece, pin striped suit. He even has a pocket watch attached to the silk vest he's wearing and a pocket square in his jacket.

Bobby is also wearing a suit, but it looks like he's just borrowed it from his dad as it looks a bit too big for him, and his shirt is untucked and he's not wearing a tie. Plus he was wearing converses instead of shiny black formal shoes like Hank.

"Suit up, buddy!" Bobby struts around, doing his best Barney Stinson impression.

I laugh "You guys are ridiculous"

I also love that they're my friends.

"You're not wearing your glittery dancing shoes, Henry? I was actually looking forward to seeing them" Emma puts on a mock disappointed voice, actually using Hanks proper name instead of the more casual Hank.

"Ah, i'm sorry Emma, how inconsiderate of me not to think of the masses. I do hate to deny the people what they want" he hams it up, then actually brings a monocle out of his pocket.

"Where did you even get that?" I smile, shaking my head.

"Flea market. I also had a top hat. Shame I couldn't find it though"

Emma gasps theatrically "You couldn't find your top hat? Well, now i'm just upset"

"And I see you're not in a floor length ball gown or a mini dress covered in sequins" Hank pointed out but Emma just did a little twirl, showing off her dress.

"Yes but I still look decent enough don't I?" she smiled, knowing that she looked gorgeous.

And I say gorgeous just as a general fact. Because she did. It's nothing personal. Just...stating a fact.

Hank let out a great dramatic sigh "Well, I suppose it will do"

"You're too kind. Scott actually picked it out for me"

I see Hank give me a quick look before he continued to talk to Emma "Ah, did he. He's got surprisingly good taste then" it was subtle, but I noted the catch in his tone as well.

Henry catches on to everything dammnit.

I ignore it and retreat to the neatly laid out snack table across the room. Bobby joins me.

"Damn, Emma looks hot" he says as I grab a handful of chips. I make a kind of non-commital noise that wasn't much of a reply at all. Not that I think Bobby really wanted one.

"Ok, so be honest with me, what kind of chance do you think I would have with her?"

"Ummm.."

That question seemed...frank.

"Really? That bad? Don't pull that face" Bobby winces.

"Sorry man, that came out wrong. I'm sure you could...I mean, probably...you know" I struggle for words, not really saying anything, but Bobby nodded sagely.

"Yeah, I get what you mean"

….really?

"She's kind of on another level, but i'm not talking about being her boyfriend or anything, just a hook up. That's all. Frankly, she kind of scares me off with her ice queen vibe too much to think about any kind of actual relationship. You know me, i'm looking for someone more down to earth and cute and shit"

I nod. I can see the wanted add now. Boy seeks girl. Must be cute and shit.

"But yeah, I just got to thinking that maybe, hey, she would be interested in a...you know...casual encounter"

I stare blankly at him.

"For what?"

"...Scott... Think about it"

I frown at him, helping myself to more chips

He sighs and repeats himself, doing those little air quotation things "'casual encounter'"

"Yeah, a casual encounter but for what?" I cut across him.

"Sex!"

He chose the exact moment where one song had ended and the next was about to start up to yell that out. In that split second of silence the entirety of the people around us had turned to stare.

Good job Bobby.

He shuffles awkwardly as people have a quick laugh before turning back to their conversations as the next song starts up again. I see Jean shoot me a look across the room before shaking her head and turning back to Kitty.

"So anyway.." Bobby starts again, this time keeping his voice low "What do you think?"

I frown.

This was clearly not the reaction Bobby wanted "Urgh, why did I even bother bringing this up with you. You're such a mom about these things"

"What? What does that even mean?"

Jean said the same thing the other day. Do I have some kind of 'mom' reputation I don't know about?

"It means you always have to be so...rational" he said it like it was a dirty word.

"And what's wrong with being rational?"

"Nothing, it's fine, I know it's just who you are man" Bobby shrugged, obviously trying to backtrack "I just should've known you wouldn't be all for me trying to have a one time friends-with-benefits thing with the new girl, you know? Some guys would be all 'yeah, man , go for it! She's hot! Whoo!' but you , your'e all more like 'hey, respect her and yourself, you should try and find a proper girlfriend, you're first time should be with someone special, bleurgh' "

It was kind of funny how Bobby had hung around Hank for years now and was still this ineloquent.

I put my hand on his shoulder "look, I just think you can aim for something better...and if you want to ask Emma for one time pity sex just so you can get your first time done and out of the way, I won't be angry. I just want you to do the right thing"

"...such a mom thing to say"

I see Theresa and Kitty and the rest of their group all head out of the kitchen and Jean comes up to me and slips her hand in mine.

"Hey Bobby, um, nice suit" she smiles.

He winks and makes a clicking sound. She quickly turns back to me.

"Come on, everyones in the lounge room. If were lucky we might even get a space on the couch but we have to go stake it out before more people arrive" she says as she pulls me along.

"You guys go, I'm gonna go mingle" Bobby says, heading off in the opposite direction.

As I leave I shoot him a warning look, hoping he'll stay away from mingling with Emma.

For his own sake. I'm only thinking of him of course. My friends best interests.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jean was right, there was still space on the couch that had been pushed out of the way to the side of the room. But by the time Betsy, Kitty, jean-paul , Theresa, Warren and Alison had also decided to sit there seconds before us, there was only one tight spot left at the edge.

Next to Warren.

Me and Jean are left standing there.

"Sorry Jean, I can totally squish over a bit for you" Warren offers politely as he edges maybe another inch over at the most.

Crafty bastard.

I'm starting to figure out his game.. Conveniently shopping at safemart when she's working, even though he probably has a million personal servants or something to do that for him. Hanging out at her cheer practises all the time and not getting kicked out by angry Canadians. Being generally funny and nice and charming to Jean all the time.

Its all part of some sinister angle.

Im on to you Worthington.

I am on to you.

"Aw, thanks Warren but that's ok" Jean says.

Haha, shot down. How you like them apples.

"Scott can take the spot and i'll sit on his lap" Jean smiles, looking at me to step forward.

Wait what.

Warren shrugs "Fine by me"

I give a stiff smile.

so damn crafty.

I end up squished between the edge of the couch and Warren. There is no personal space. He's in my bubble and i'm in his. I can actually feel his phone through his jeans pocket. Jean drops down onto my lap. She only manages to spill a little bit of punch as she flings one arm around my neck as she kicks her legs over sideways over Warren's lap with her shoes ending up in Betsy's.

"Made yourself comfortable there Jean?" Betsy laughs, swatting at her friends feet.

"I think Scott must make a good seat" Warren jokes and everyone laughs.

I laugh along too but I think it comes out more as a sneer.

Ahahahaha so funny. Oh look at me, i'm Warren Worthington and I can make your girlfriend laugh harder than you can even when you tried that really good joke with the mop and the skeleton. Funny, funny, funny.

I wish Bobby had actually followed us out as I was now trapped under Jean and between Warren as they all talked about...I don't know what they were talking about. I kind of drifted out of it. The music was loud too. I wonder if Emma is still talking to Hank. She might have found someone else to talk too. No doubt guys would try come up to her and start a conversation. I kind of hope Bobby stays away from her. And I say that because I care, don't think anything else, because he's a great guy who I want to find a nice girlfriend and he can have his first time be special, like I did. I don't care how lame anyone thinks that sounds, its a good thing and I doubt any drunk experience in the back room of a party can top that.

Just then I spot a blonde girl in a white dress from the corner of my eye. For a second I think it's Emma, but as I turn my head I see the beaming smile of Tandy coming straight towards us, tottering over in a pair of heels as fast as she could.

She squealed a hello as she threw her arms around Jean, and subsequently me, as her arms tried to wrap around the both of us at the same time. Her dress had long sleeves and the craziest neckline I had ever seen. It was like a cut out in the shape of a cross that went right down to her navel and across her chest. It was nice, but a bit of a change than the faded old t-shirt and sweatpants she wore to work every day.

"Hey you guys! Ohmygod I found you, like, straight away. Good thing too, we don't know anyone here except for Theresa" she laughed. The 'we' part consisted of what must've been her boyfriend she'd told me about and the girlfriend she's brought, both hanging slightly back behind her.

"This is Tyrone, my boyfriend-" she introduced the massive figure of the guy, dressed in a dark hoodie and with a serious look on his face. He looked menacing. Basically the complete opposite of Tandy, dressed in all black to her bright white. He just nodded a silent hello.

"-and this is Abigail" The girl looked just as unfriendly as the guy, her arms folded. She had on a dark velvet green top and you could see her black bra straps showing under neath the spaghetti straps, and dark jeans with a chain belt. Her boots looked like real steel caps and I saw she had two tattoo's, one on either arm. The right side said 'Anna' and the other said 'Grace'. The thing that stood out the most was her hair though. It was Green.

This is the kind of look that made old ladies scared to sit next to you on public transport. 'Alternative' I guess. The kind of girl who actually knew more than that one Nirvana song.

"Hey" she said without any enthusiasm, her face blank.

Yup, totally into Nirvana.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Tandy , Tyrone and Abigail didn't chat for longer than two minutes before heading off, and I don't know how long I continued to sit there and hang out with Jean and her friends as more and more people arrived. I caught snippets of their conversations.

"So Theresa, if you were reeeally drunk, would you consider hooking up with Wade Wilson?" Kitty laughed.

"Eeeeww are you kidding! No way, he's so gross. I once saw him pull out a half eaten burrito from his backpack in free period and eat it. I could not even go there"

Plus...

"Hey, Wanda's here" Alison pointed the girl with the brown curly hair in the red dress out in the growing crowd.

"Yeah, she kind of freaks me out a bit though"

I silently agree with Jean-Paul. In third grade I accidentally knocked over a sandcastle she built when we were playing soccer at recess. She told me she was a witch and was going to put a curse on me. Plus she always drew pictures of her 'robot husband' during class and brought her brother as her date to the spring social. I haven't talked to her much in high school.

"Doesn't your brother date her sister, Scott?" Warren asked me.

I mumble that date is a loose term.

More chatting about the Maximoff family.

Wondering wether Pietro's hair colour is natural. Then wether he's still dating that girl named Crystal.

It just seems to go on from there. I can't keep up.

And then finally, just as I almost feel asphyxiated from boredom, Jean leans across me to yell down to Kitty.

"Hey Kitty, where's Piotr?"

She shrugs "I don't know! He said he was coming when I texted him a couple days ago" she frowned.

"I hope he's not to busy with college, I hear art courses have a crazy workload. I really wanted to catch up with him" Warren added in but Kitty just drained the last of her drink.

"I should call him" Kitty declared, standing up. She wobbled a little on her feet. "And I need another drink!"

"Seconded" Jean said, getting up off of me, a little less wobbly "You want anything Scott?"

"No, that's ok" I smile as she heads off with Kitty to the kitchen, making sure to gently keep a hold of Kitty's arm. Just in case. Alison, jean-paul and Theresa all drifted off as well, leaving me,Warren and Betsy.

Me and Warren are still sitting uncomfortably close. We make eye contact.

"So ah, i'm going to go...yeah..." I drift off before quickly making an escape.

As I walk through the hall it really has gotten packed. I pull out my phone and check the time. Oh, ok, I'd been sitting there for almost an hour. I don't know wether to follow Jean or not. I should try and find Hank and Bobby.

I manage to find Hank still in the kitchen but before I can even go up to him and I notice he's talking to the green haired chick, Abigail. Alone.

Hank.

Talking to a girl.

Alone.

I feel like I should gently back away. Like one of those nature documentary camera men who stumbles across a rare breed of animal displaying its rarely documented mating ritual, and your really excited about it and intrigued but at the same time you don't want to spook them and have them flee across the savannah because you accidentally stepped on a twig and disturbed them.

Thankfully he seems engrossed in conversation so I slip back the way I came.

I find Bobby in the cleared out dining room in the middle of the makeshift dance floor. He's alone, busting out his well practised moves. A few people watch on, some smirking while others seem genuinely entertained. I mean yeah, he dances like a typical 18 year old white boy, but he at least puts some effort into it. They just have to wait till he breaks out his slick moon walk. I'm actually jealous of how good he is at that. I decide to leave him too it. I have about as much rhythm in me as a plank of wood, so me and dance floors don't mix.

My next resort is to find Tandy and Tyrone. I manage that pretty quickly as I see them pressed against the hallway wall in a pretty decent looking make out session.

Even I have enough knowledge about social cues not to interrupt that.

I should find Emma.

I want to find Emma even.

I kind of expected her to be surrounded by guys when I found her, but instead she was sitting alone in the last place I looked. She was out the front of the house on a bench on the veranda, and I stepped out into the quiet, where only a few people were grouped together chatting or smoking. Im pretty sure someone was being sick in the bushes. I also saw Kitty way over on the front of the lawn near the letterbox on her phone.

Emma was looking bored, texting on her phone and I lingered at the front door. Maybe I shouldn't bother her. Maybe i'd be annoying. People might think it's weird seeing me talking to Emma alone.

The exact second I decide that it's best if I just run back inside and hang around the snack table for awhile, Emma speaks.

"Are you just going to stand there or do you want to sit down?" she asks, without even looking up from her phone, but I see an amused look on her face.

I take a seat next to her, already feeling a little stupid "Hey. So, uh, been out here long?"

"A fair while" she puts her phone back in her purse "Ever since Henry started hitting it off with some green haired girl. I decided to give them some space"

"And you've just been sitting here alone?"

"I've had my alcohol to keep me company" she raised her cup.

"Drinking alone?"

"Well, when you say it like that it sounds sad" she takes another sip "What have you been doing then?"

I shrug "Just..sitting with Jean and her friends. Talking"

"So, no wild dancing, out of control drinking games, back room hookups or people getting pushed in the pool, then?"

"Theresa doesn't even have a pool" I answer.

"Then i'm not missing much, am I?"

"Well, if theres no wild dancing, drinking game or hooking up, what do you usually do at parties?"

She shrugs "Mostly I just kind of sit around looking stunning while I reject boys advances"

She says it like it's a joke but I don't think it is. This seems like something she does a lot.

I nod "Yeah, same...except without the rejecting part...or people approaching me in general...and I'm not that stunning"

Emma cracks a smile "Don't sell yourself short on that last one"

"What?"

"Nothing. So did you come out here to look for me?" she smiles.

"Uh, yeah. I wanted to make sure you were ok. Meeting other people...mingling.." I use Bobby's word.

"And here you found me being terribly anti-social out here by myself"

"Nah, that's alright. I get it can be kind of intimidating to try and go up to people and just start talking-" but i'm cut off by a laugh.

"oh please Scott, I'm not shy, don't you dare think that. I'm just good at figuring out who's worth talking too. Most people aren't"

I can't help but smile. She talks to me though "Fair enough"

We hear a muffled cry from across the lawn. Staring over we see Kitty, still on her phone, and I can't hear her clearly but she's almost yelling, pacing back and forth on the pathway. I look to Emma.

"Any idea what that's about?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"No idea. Parents maybe?"

I remember her mentioning something about calling Piotr not long ago "It's probably her boyfriend"

We watch on as kitty's yelling gets louder and more heated. More and more curse words were thrown around too.

"It look's like a pleasant conversation" Emma says dryly.

We kept watching until finally we saw Kitty pause, look down at her phone, and then let out an anguished scream as she threw the phone as hard as she could across the road where it landed hard in the middle of the road. Everyone else outside was staring too as Kitty stormed back up to the house breathing deeply before slamming the front door behind her.

Theres a pause where Emma and I look at each other.

"Do you want to follow her, just out of sick curiosity?"

"Little bit...and to make sure she's ok too"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

We go inside to find Kitty sitting on the stairs of the hallway, surrounded by Jean, Betsy and Theresa, crying.

I immediately feel awkward. I can't deal with people crying. Or more like i'm just not good at it. Years ago when Bobby's parents got divorced he cried and I really really wanted to be supportive but all I could think to do was offer him a glass of water. It seemed right at the time. Then it was downhill from there when he went in for a hug and instinctively backed off so he ended up tripping over and falling face forward to the floor...

We laugh about it now.

"Aaah, is everything ok?" I ask and they all look up, except for Kitty, who has her face in her hands.

Betsy gives me a look that says it's clearly not.

"Piotr broke up with her" Jean whispers gently and Kitty let out a muffled sob.

"Oooh" that explained the angry phone call.

"I just can't believe it" Kitty said through the tears "He said things wouldn't change when he went off to college. He said he'd still drive down and see me every weekend but like, it just got to be every other weekend and then he started calling less and hanging out with his new friends and just..just...he didn't have any time for me anymoooore" she wailed as jean wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

"Oh, it's ok sweetie, you have us" Jean spoke gently.

See, Jean is good at this sort of thing.

"Yeah, men are assholes! You don't need 'em!" Theresa said fiercely.

"Yes I do!" kitty says anguishedly "I've had a crush on him since middle school and we only just got together last year and it was like, the best time of my life but obviously...obviously he doesn't feel the same and...and...and he's probably already hooking up with some artsy chick from his dorm room who has some dumb name like...Strawberry or some shit, and she's so indie and has a nose piercing and likes jazz records or something!"

"Pfft, let him, it's not your problem! You're brilliant and if he can't see that, fuck 'im!...plus you know those art school bitches don't shave their legs anyway. He can have 'em" Theresa continued, riling Kitty up.

"And I bet he only bought me that bag because he totally had it in his head that he wanted to dump me and he thought it would, like, soften the blow or something...you can't buy me off with gifts asshole!" She yelled at a spot on the wall like he was there "You know what, i'm going to burn it. Burn that damn fake bag! make some kind of symbolic thing of it. You guys can totally come"

Jean doesn't look thrilled on the offer "Um, yeah. Yeah, if thats what you'd like...maybe leave the fire out of it though"

While Betsy starts suggesting she could cut up the bag with gradening shears instead, Emma leans over to me "I'll be back in a sec" she whispers and slips off down the hallway.

"Urgh, I just wanna go home..." Kitty mumbled feebly but the girls frowned.

"No! Come on Kitty, stay here!" Betsy insisted.

"Yeah, you'll just be miserable and sit around thinking about it too much if you go home! You need to take your mind off it while your out, have fun, be with us" Jean said.

"And it's my party and I insist that you stay! You have to what the host says" Theresa prodded at her, making her crack the smallest of smiles.

"Isn't that the guest?"

"Not in this house it's not"

Just then Emma announces herself back into the room "Ok, i've got what you need" she says as we stare, noticing that she holding two full shot glasses in her hands.

Kitty stares at them as they're handed to her and blinks.

"Well don't stare at them, knock them back" Emma instructs as Kitty takes them.

"Um, Emma, thanks for the concern but I don't think-" Jean starts but in a flash Kitty has tilted her head back and downed both the shots in seconds "Kitty.." she stares, astonished.

"See? Vodka makes everything better" Emma says in a mock Martha Stewart style sweetness.

Jean look's unimpressed and I sense she's about to say something but Kitty suddenly stands up "You guys are right! I don't want to feel sorry for myself, at least not for the next couple hours! I'm going to stay and party, and have fun, and forget Piotr!" she says determinately.

"Yeah!" Theresa cheers her on while Betsy and Jean exchange looks.

"I'm going to the kitchen, I need more shots...and some more of that punch too!" Kitty left with Theresa leading her by the hand, with Betsy following after them, more out of concern than anything.

"Guys, I don't think that this is the best idea to- Oh never mind" Jean sighs as they were too far away to hear her. She shoots Emma a withering stare.

"Was that really necessary?"

Emma shrugged "I didn't force them down her throat. Let the girl cut loose, have fun. I thought that's what you wanted her to do"

"Yeah, by ...I dunno...dancing with us or something. Not by drinking herself stupid"

"Oh. Sorry then" Emma said, not sounding very sorry at all "Blame the W.A.S.P. In me, numbing ourselves with alcohol is kind of our thing"

Jean didn't seem to appreciate the joke as she followed after her friends.

"Was that really such a bad thing to do? Is she a total light weight who'll end up passed out in the front garden thanks to me?" Emma asked and I shrugged.

"I don't think Kitty's a big drinker, no, but I don't think she'll go crazy or anything. I'm sure she'll handle herself"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o00o0 o00o00o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0000 o0

Okay. It's official. Kitty cannot handle herself.

It has been an hour since she broke down on the stairs, and in that hour she had downed six more shots of vodka, five more cups of punch, drank straight from the bottle of gin and had a few swigs of someones tequila. At least that's what we saw her have anyway.

I'll skip most of what happened and just give you the bare outline. She danced on a table. Broke a kitchen stool. Demanded someone give her a piggyback. Spelt out rude words using the alphabet magnets on the fridge. Insisted she was giving up men and becoming a lesbian. She tried to make out with Betsy. Decided she wasn't a lesbian anymore when she found a Johnny Depp calendar in Theresa's room. Betsy was relieved. She got salsa dip in her hair. Had a sing along with Alison to some spice girls song. She tried to breakdance. I think she twisted her ankle.

We were all now currently on the upstairs landing outside the bathroom as she threw up violently into the bathtub, the vodka bottle lying sadly on the floor besides her.

"Well. This could have gone better" Jean sniffed, arms folded.

I think Emma got the dig aimed at her but she didn't say anything. We heard Kitty give another heave.

Theresa grimaced "Urgh, sorry but i need to go, I can't listen to people be sick, it makes me feel ill too"

"Same. Sorry" Betsy said quickly as they both head off down the stairs.

Luckily I don't have that. I don't get squeamish easily. Mom's the same, it's what makes her a good nurse.

Jean rubbed at her temples as she looked to me "At least we got her to the bathroom in time .Scott, can you just look after her for a bit, please? I'm going to go find her phone and call her Mom, tell her she needs picking up"

"Um.." Ok, so I may not be squeamish but that didn't mean I enjoyed looking after drunk, vomiting girls, but I don't have time to wriggle my way out of it as Jean already makes her way after Betsy and Theresa.

Crap. I stare into the bathroom as Kitty does that awful cough people do when they're being sick.

I turn to Emma "You, ah, don't need to be here if you don't want"

"Mm, as nice as running off and leaving you too it seems, I can't help but feel partly responsible for this. I unleashed the beast I guess, so i'll stay and help with collateral damage" she stares in after Kitty too and wrinkles her nose "...but first I might run after Jean and tell her Kitty's phone has already been shattered on the road outside, and we might need to organise someone else to take her home"

"Oh shit, I forgot about that" I frown. In the back of my head i'm hoping it doesn't end up being my car. As she heads off I'm left alone. Well, alone with Kitty.

"Uh...hey" I say as I step into the bathroom.

She retches a little.

"'Kay then. Um...do you need a glass of water?"

Theres a pleasant sound of vomit hitting the porcelain of the bathtub. I grin and bear it as I reach over and turn the tap on low, leaving the water to wash at least most of it away. I also crack open a window before taking a seat on the edge of the holds her head in her hands as she kneels there on the floor and for awhile she's quiet.

"Do you think you're ok now?" I ask after ten minutes passes.

She gives a sad little nod and an incoherent mumble.

"...cool" I pass her a towel and she wipes at her mouth.

I'm pretty content to just sit there in silence until Jean or Emma arrives back but Kitty seemed to have other plans.

"I really loved him you know"

Oh god.

"Like, I thought we were soul mates" she whimpers.

I can't do this.

I nod stiffly "Yeah...breakups suck"

She's still drunk. I have no idea what to say.I need help.

"And now he's probably out right now, so happy that he got rid of me so he can be with that Strawberry slut" she spat out angrily "Do you know I let him draw me naked once? Yeah, for one of his life drawing projects. He even lit candles while he did it and It was so romantic...like, totally Titanic and I was Cate Blanchette and he was Leonardo DiCaprio"

I am so uncomfortable right now.

Her face suddenly turned sour "but now I bet he's showing them to strawberry and their probably laughing at how flat I am or that I have that weird freckle right above my left nipple"

And I thought I was uncomfortable before.

Hurry, Jean.

Just then Kitty's face screws up and fat tears rolled down her cheeks. I panic. Oh god what's wrong now?

"Scott...?" she asks, her voice a whimper.

"...yeah?"

"This vodka.." she picks up the bottle at stares at it sadly "...It's Russian!"

And then she just breaks down, her body racked with sobs as she buried her face in the towel and wailed.

I kind of raise my hands to do..something, I don't know what. Jean would hug her right now but I don't think I can work my way up to that. Plus she kind of has vomit on her dress. I settle for an awkward pat on the back.

"There there...er, it's ok" I say weakly.

Eventually the sobbing subsides a little bit and she tries to speak.

"You know Scott, your not that bad of a guy" it comes out all muffled, her words garbled together "Like, I know we all say your super boring and that your kind of a bit of a douche sometimes-"

I choose not to comment on that. She's drunk.

"-but like...your dependable you know what I mean? You're always there for Jean and like, you care about her and stuff" She sniffs "and it's totally not fair what she's doing"

I pause and frown.

"What?"

Kitty continues on regardless "The way she's hazing you out is so...so...its exactly what Piotr did to me you know? He just stopped seeing me more and more and called less and less.."

"Ok, Kitty, what are you talking about?" I try and get her to focus but she's on a tangent.

"Like, whatever if she doesn't think you're the best boyfriend, you're good enough,and I just don't want anyone to go through what i'm going through, yaknowwhatimean?" she slurs.

I blink and try and take this in "Wait, what has Jean been saying? She's said this stuff to you?"

But Kitty doesn't even seem to be hearing me "And that stupid crush she has on whatshisface..."

She mumbled it so incoherently I barely caught it, but it made me freeze.

"Jean has a crush on someone else?" I repeat and Kitty's eyes widen.

"ohmygod I shouldn't have..i mean..no, she doesn't! She hasn't said anything!...i'm drunk, you shouldn't even be listening to me!"

Too late, you already said it. I take Kitty by the shoulder and make her look me right in the eye "Ok...ok ok ok...ok" i'm trying to think of what to say here "..are you completely 100% positive that Jean herself has stated that she in fact...likes someone else?" that actually hurt to say.

Kitty's face began to crack "Im such a baaaad frieeeend I shouldn't have said anything" she thwumps her head down onto the side of the bath.

"Who is it?" I demand.

All I get is a muffled whimpering.

"Is it someone I know? Someone at school? Who is it Kitty?!"

"Urrggh...i think...i think i'm gonna pass out" she says weakly.

"Kitty, i'm not falling for that! Please just tell me what the hell you know about this. It's important! Focus!" I shake her shoulder a little and her head kind of slumps to the side a little.

Oh. Ok, maybe she had really passed out.

"Shit" I mumble out loud as I head to the door. The first person I see outside is Bobby. A stroke of luck.

"Hey, Bobby, get over here. I need a favour!"

He must have heard the urgency in my voice and he came over quickly.

"Why, whats up? Has something happe-"

"Just stay here and look after her" I say quickly as I drag him to the bathroom door. He spots Kitty.

"What, why?"

"Just do it, please" I call over my shoulder as a hurry down the stairs.

I need to find Jean.

Theres a million thoughts running through my head. None of them very pleasant. I just need to see her.

I spot her as I turn into the kitchen. She's with Warren, talking.

I feel slightly sick. The thoughts in my head don't even seem to connect up right, it's just one big string of incoherent freaking out mixed in with swearing. I bet it's him, fuck, it has to be. Who else? It's not fair, he's Mr perfect, of course if he tried his moves on her she'd probably end up liking him back. Compared to him, what am I?

I want to punch him. That's not even like me. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe I should just be totally unreasonable and dramatic and punch him right in the face, make a big scene, publicly freak out. Yell as loud as I can. Not even words just screaming, because that's what I really feel like doing right now.

Jean turns her head and spots me "Oh, Scott, hey. How's Kitty?" she says as I walk up.

I pause for a second, looking between her and Warren. She sounds normal. Warren doesn't say anything but he smiles at me.

Come on, punch him, punch him, punch him.

My mind is screaming at me but I stop.

I doubt myself.. Kitty's drunk...it might not even be true...and if it is...god, punching him would be stupid anyway.

Common sense prevails.

"Scott..?" Jean says gently. I'd been silent for a second too long. I have to snap myself out of it

"She's fine now...well, she's actually passed out. But Bobby's taking care of her"

"Oh, god" she sighs in exasperation "I'd better get up there. Warrens agreed to take her home in his car anyway"

Yeah, what a nice guy. He gives me another smile and I deliberately keep my face mute. His smile slips a little.

"Warren, do you think you could do another huge favor? Do you think you could help carry Kitty to your car?" Jean asks.

"Yeah, sure" he says, quickly following her, tearing his eyes away from mine.

"Oh, and i'm going to go with them so I can give Warren instruction to get to Kitty's house" Jean says to me "So you don't need to give me a lift"

"Ok" I make myself smile as she gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Seeya" she says brightly as they both disappear up the stairs.

I'm left standing there, feeling like an idiot.

I don't know how long I stand there before Emma happens to walk past me.

"Oh, there you are" she says, doubling back. Then she stops and scans over my face "Has something happened? Oh god, Kitty hasn't got alcohol poisoning has she?" she winces.

"No, she's alright. Warren and Jean are taking her home" I assure her.

"Well, that's a relief. You looked so mournful I thought someone had died" she half laughed "...but ok, seriously, something has happened hasn't it?"

Oh come on, I thought I had a perfectly neutral face on. Neutral! It's not fair that she can tell.

"It's nothing" I say automatically.

Emma clearly doesn't believe me but before she can try again, Tandy's voice cuts above the crowd.

"Heeey Scott! Just wanted to find you and say goodbye before we head off, Tyrone's friend is having a party over at his place and were gonna go there and-" she end up trailing off as she walks up to us and her eyes land on Emma.

"Oh, Emma...hey" she says, sounding kind of stunned.

I look at Emma and see that her usually clam expression has fallen and she looks just as surprised.

"Tandy...hi"

I frown "You two know each other?"

"We both wen't to Massachusetts academy" Emma said stiffly "Or we both used to.."

"Yeah I heard about how you...left, M.A..." I think Tandy wanted to avoid the word 'expelled' "So...you're going to Scott's school now?" she tried to sound conversational.

Emma nodded mutely, her arms folded, and maybe it was just me but she actually looked kind of anxious.

"Cool. I actually work with Scott and Jean up at safeway" Tandy grinned "You've already made good friends then"

She was trying her best but Emma looked like she just wanted this conversation to die as fast as it could. She seemed to get the hint.

"Um, anyway, nice seeing you again Emma and I guess i'll see you-" she pointed to me "-at work tomorrow"

She waved a quick goodbye before making an escape.

Emma still looked tense.

"So...that felt a little awkward"

"Of course it did. I got expelled and she left for rehab. What are we supposed to say to each other? Oh, hows your drug addiction going? Good to hear, my expulsions been great. Not to mention we barely spoke at school anyway.." Emma snapped quickly, in a tone I hadn't heard her use before. It sounded...worried?

"Anyway, are you ready to go?"

I grab my car keys from my pocket "I've been ready for awhile"


	5. Jolly pills

It's sunday morning. My face is buried in my pillows and my duvet is pulled right over my head to block out the light. I didn't sleep much last night. I drove Emma home and I could tell she thought something was up, but she didn't push it, which I was grateful for. Then when I crawled into bed my brain couldn't give myself a break. Images of Warren and Jean driving Kitty home together, she'd thank him for being so helpful, ask how she could ever repay him, cue seedy porno music and him saying "I have a few ideas baby" and then they get it on in the backseat of his car which is ten times better than the one I ever had. Bastard.

I secretly hope that Kitty threw up in the back of his car and ruined the mood. Come on Kitty, you owe me that. You're the one who told me this horrible information in the first place. I don't want to shoot the messenger but I damn well want to shoot something.

I hear a slight knock on the door "Scott? Honey, Are you up?"

It's Mom. I grunt loud enough for her to take that as a yes. I hear her step in and the weight on the end of the bed shifts as I feel her sit down next to me.

"Did the party go okay?"

"s'alright" I mumble, still under the covers.

"You're not...hung over are you?" she says doubtfully.

"You know I don't drink"

"Yeah, I know, but I was just checking. First time for everything...and it's just because...well, honey it's twelve thirty in the afternoon..."

I pull the covers down to look at her since she wounds worried. I immediately squint against the light and I feel Mom already pressing my glasses that were resting on my nightstand into my hand.

"Mm, so?" I say, putting the glasses on.

"...Scott, I once caught you up at six thirty on the first day of school holidays 'just because'. This isn't like you"

I shrug, sitting up "I just wanted to sleep in"

She doesn't look convinced "So nothings wrong?"

"Mmm nope"

Try everything.

"But you'd tell me if something was wrong, wouldn't you?"

Never.

"Yeah, of course"

She smiles gently "...Ok then. So now that your up do you want some breakfast...or lunch?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o00o0o

Work is a drag. I walk in and the first thing I see was Jean, who smiled and waved as usual. Would it be inappropriate to walk up and ask if she pictured Warren when she kissed me ? Was that being a little forward? Is there a polite way to confront this matter? Further still, is it even more inappropriate to jump over the cash register, take hold of her in anguish and ask why she doesn't love me anymore...?

I'm guessing yes, so I just smile and wave back.

Sunday nights are an easy shift. We don't even get any new stock to put up on the shelves, instead we just put new tickets on weekly sale items in our isle. I had a bunch in my hands and I flipped through them. 25 cents off ice tea. $2 off capri sun packs. Save 50 cents on red bull...thrilling stuff. At least we got paid more on Sunday anyway.

"Heeeey, Scott"

I turn around as I see Tandy edges towards me down the aisle, looking over her shoulder to make sure the manager wasn't looking.

"Uh, hey Tandy" Something seems off with her smile as she places herself right next to me and starts re-arranging coke bottles for no reason. I frown at her but she hushes "I just need to look busy for a second, I need to talk to you"

"...Ok? What about?"

"It's about Emma"

...oh?

"So are you two like, close friends now or..?" she leaved the question hanging.

"Um...kind of. Not particularly...why?"

Tandy puts on her best innocent face "No reason, just asking out of interest. You know, since we did go to school together"

"Yeah, she said you guys weren't that close" There was something off about this conversation.

"Well...we weren't...but still"

Theres a silence as she continues re-shuffling soda bottles. I stare at her for a second before going back to putting up my tickets, but then Tandy spins around again.

"So have you talked about why she was expelled? Like, at all...has she mentioned anything about it? Did you know she was expelled?" she asks rapidly.

"Yes, I knew" I replied stiffly "But I don't know why"

A look passes across Tandy's face.

"Oh...oh ok"

Then she goes to walk away all of a sudden and I call out to stop her.

"Hey, hey, no, just wait" Tandy turns back on her heels looking sheepish "So I'm guessing you do know why she was expelled?"

Her face screws up uncomfortably. Oh, she so knows. She so knows.

"Uuuuuum" she starts "Well...i know the rumours. I mean, I had her on facebook and I saw what other people from school were saying and what she said about it and how it all went down...and all the messages people left on her wall. I was really only a spectator to the drama anyway since I didn't even go there anymore-"

"Tandy you're rambling"

"-yeeeeeeah but the thing is I kind of only sort of know what happened and some of the details are foggy and might not even be true, I mean it might just all be hateful gossip because I know Emma was like, popular but still a tonne of girls hated her because there was this one girl ,Selene, and she and Emma hated each other, like, seriously hated, and she was the one who posted the video up on the internet even though it got taken down real quick so I only heard the details of what it was and not that many people actually saw it for themselves but-"

"Tandy"

"Ok! Sorry, but its just...I don't think I should tell you!"

Goddamnit Tandy.

"Why not?" I ask impatiently "Just tell me what you think is true then, because right now I don't have any idea why it happened"

"Scott, I really don't want to just spread more rumours...I actually just wanted to know if you knew anything about it, since you seem to be friends with her now. I almost wanted to ask her for the true story myself last night! But I thought...well it would be super awkward...and she's still kind of scary like I remember her"

I'm trying my best to glare at Tandy but she's got the whole doe eyes thing going on. She does those very well. You can't be harsh with Tandy, it's like punching a kitten.

"Ok, fine. I don't really care anyway, if she tells me, she tells me, if she doesn't, she doesn't. Not a big deal either way" I shrug and go back to my tickets.

"You're not even curious?" Tandy asks.

"Of course I'm curious, but it just doesn't matter that much. I doubt it could be anything that makes me think differently of her"

I notice a slight twitch in Tandy's face as I say that.

"That's good to hear, really. I can actually kind of relate to her a little, what with the whole 'oh my god, Tandy got addicted to pills' thing so I know what it's like to get talked about and...well, yeah. Emma's lucky to find a friend who wouldn't care about her past" Tandy gave me a small smile "Anyway, I gotta go before Rajdeep catches me here. I haven't even ticketed all the deodorants yet!"

As soon as she's gone and out of my isle, my smile slips.

So I still didn't know exactly why Emma was expelled, only that it possibly had something to do with a video and some girl named Selene.

I feel like this is the type of thing Jean would want to hear about. I hear her voice in my head.

"-good girls don't get expelled for nothing"

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The next day at school is torture. First period of the week is Math. With Jean.

I can't even talk to her right. She tries and chats to me about normal things, like how she almost tripped over her cat this morning or the Gilligans island marathon she was forced to watch with her Dad all day yesterday, but I can't focus. All I can think about is her and Warren. I'm over analysing everything. Kitty didn't say that anything had happened between them but she said Jean had a crush on him. For how long? How much of a crush? Like is it a 'I kind of think he's funny and nice but that's as far as it goes' crush or 'I have already devised many elaborate plans in which to dump my current boyfriend for you' crush.

There was a distinct difference.

Oh god. I'm having some kind of 'nam flashback to that day of work with the box of tampons. Jean must've been standing there looking between me and Warren wishing she could just switch straight over to him right then and there. I mean what kind of competition was it? The sole heir to the Worthington fortune or the guy holding the feminine hygiene products?

"Scott? Hello?"

"Hm?"

Jean pulled a face at me "I said we got home ok the other night, Kitty was fine"

"Oh. Oh good" I mumble, coming out of my daze. I could see a few desks behind us kitty was surrounded by half the class recounting the dramatic story of her breakup with Piotr with everyone listening intently. God this school thrived on gossip. What was that show Jean made me watch those few times? Gossip girl? Yeah, it was like that. Only we didn't dress that well and no girl was close to being as tall as Blake Lively.

"So did Emma say anything interesting when you drove her home?"

"Mm, not really"

"You didn't take the chance to ask her about anything at all?"

"Well, when we turned on the car radio I asked her what kind of music she liked. She said the last CD she bought was by someone called Lana Dellroy or something"

Jean gives me a withering look "And that's it? You didn't ask about anything else? And It's Lana Del Ray, just FYI"

"God Jean, what do you want me to do? Interrogate her?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Small, dark room with one of those bright lights shining right in her face. You be the good cop, I call dibs on the bad cop"

She's joking, but I'm mad, so I don't laugh.

Jean would definitely be interested to hear about my conversation with Tandy.

I actively decide that I won't be telling her.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o

"Hey, Scott, do you I could I borrow a pen? I forgot mine" Warren whispers as he leans over the back of his chair at me.

Oh, so you can remember to bring your five hundred dollar phone I can see you've been texting on this entire lesson, but you forget a pen?

"Yeah, sure"

I make sure to hand him my shittiest pen. The end's practically chewed off.

"Thanks" he smiles graciously.

"No problem"

God I hate you so much.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I turn the combination on my locker as Bobby prattles on my ear endlessly about last saturdays party.

"So Jean Paul totally ripped into Pietro, saying how much faster he is and that he could beat him any day of the week and Pietro got so mad since you know he's been butthurt since he's been coming second to him at like, the last four track meets and I swear they were gonna fight right there in the kitchen-"

I close my eyes and count slowly, tuning it out for a minute.

"-and then Jamie was all 'but Dude, it's ok because she's only skipped like one grade and she's totally developed the last year and ditched the pigtails and is all hot now' but i'm all 'pssh whatever man, just because Layla Miller moved up from a training bra to a C cup like, over night does not make it less creepy to go hook up with her'-"

I grab my history text book.

"-oh and talking of gross hook ups, Theresa totally got in there with Wade when she was off her face drunk! I swear to god I don't know how he did it but it legit happened since I heard Tabitha tried to bring it up this morning in their Econ class and Theresa screamed so loud at her people all the way over in the science buildings could hear it. Apparently Wade's telling anyone who'll listen that she also totally flashed him her bo-"

"Bobby" I snap, slamming my locker.

Bobby shuts up and stares at me. Maybe that slam came off a little more harsh than I meant it too.

Bobby must think so too "Woah...ok...somebody forgot to take their jolly pills this morning" he says with raised eyebrows.

"I...I just...i'm not really in the mood to talk about this shit at the moment, ok?" I say as calmly as I can.

Bobby frowns "Are you alright man? You seem kind of tense...well more Tense than usual. I know tense is like your default setting but this is pushing it"

I feel guilty over snapping at him, especially since Bobby has that annoying habit of being a really decent person and actually asking if you're ok instead of snapping back at you wne you're being a dick.

"It's nothing. Sorry...I just didn't sleep last night. It's got me in a bad mood"

I didn't want to mention the whole 'thing' with Jean. It was embarrassing. Like 'oh, hey, did you know my girlfriend has possibly gotten sick of me and is into a way cooler, sexier guy with a way better car, because I had no fucking clue?'

Bobby seems to accept my shitty excuse "Yeah man, no big deal, I know the feeling. One time I stayed up twelve hours straight playing mass effect and the next day I yelled at a little girl in burger king and called her a bitch because she got the last happy meal toy just before me"

I stared at him.

"...and no, i'm not allowed back at that Burger King. I'm on a list apparently"

Before I can even comment on this, we both notice Kitty walk up to us.

"Uh, hey" she says awkwardly, holding her books to her chest.

"Hi" I say, slightly surprised. I don't think Kitty's ever approached me and initiated a conversation with me...well,ever.

"I just wanted to say thanks about the other night when I was sick, it was really nice of you to put up with me when I was all gross like that" she laughs.

"Um, You're welcome" I leave out the part where Jean pretty much volunteered me for it anyway.

Then I realise that since Kitty is actually talking to me willingly for the first time ever without Jean around, now is my chance to ask her about last night.

"Hey Kitty" I start without thinking over how the hell i'm going to phrase this "So, um, about what you said to me in the bathroom-"

"Oh god" Kitty winces, already cutting me off "I didn't, like, declare my undying love for you or anything, did I?"

"Uh, no"

"Good! Because I know I already sent some really awkward messages to my old pen pal Pete thing he's all the way in England where I don't need to look him in the eye...but yeah I was out of my mind and sad and desperate and please ignore anything I said, whatever it was" she laughs it off, looking embarrassed.

My heart sinks "Wait so, do you not remember anything?"

"Not a thing. Literally that whole night, from the table dancing onwards, is just a blur. I actually had to hear it from Jean that you were the one who was there when I was puking my guts out"

While my hopes of finding out any more vital information about the state of my girlfriends feelings crashed and burned to the ground in front of my eyes, Bobby jumped in and grabbed Kitty's attention.

"You know I kind of helped you too, after you passed out. I totally splashed water on your face to wake you up so you didn't choke on your own vomit and die like that chick on that episode of breaking bad" He smiled at her and Kitty's face softened.

"Aw, that's so sweet!"

Was that what that was?

Kitty turned to me again "So yeah. I'm so sorry if you had to hear me ramble on about anything stupid or embarrassing...seriously, I don't even want to imagine what I said. I probably went on about something stupid like my sick pet lizard or whatever"

"Nope, you definitely didn't mention any lizards"

Only the imminent demise of my three year relationship, that i'm a boring douche bag and your left nipple but yeah, no lizards

Kitty looked relieved for a second until Bobby butted in again.

"Ugh, actually I heard a little about that. And if it's any consolation I really hope Lockheed gets better soon"

Kitty looked genuinely touched.

Then the bell rang and we all had to go to class. And there went any hope I had of finding out what the hell was really going on.

You know, unless I actually get the courage to confront Jean.

….

….

…..

So yeah, like I said. There wen't any hope I had of finding out what the hell was really going on.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Oh for gods sake, this is unbearable, what's wrong?"

I blink as Emma snaps her chemistry book shut and gives me a stern look.

"I...what?"

I'd just been lying across my arms on the desk, reading through Math formulas, while we both sat in silence in free period. Had I done something?

"This moping around thing you've been doing all day. You barely talked to any of us at lunch, you had this sullen look on your face all through chemistry and now it seems like your eyeing up the window like your about to jump out and end it all. What is the matter?" she said it so sharply I actually sat up in my chair.

"Nothing, I'm fi-"

"That line won't work with me ,Summers. Try again"

"Really Emma, don't worry about it. No offence, but it's none of your business anyway"

"Well, I'm making it my business. I don't like it when people sit around feeling sorry for themselves, especially in the one class I actually have someone decent to chat too for an hour" she turns in her chair to face me head on and folds her legs and arms, very business like "So spill it. What's your problem?"

In some backwards way I think this is her caring? You'd think in week old friendships, average people wouldn't be so harsh, but then again Emma wasn't that average.

I sigh, defeated. Her cold blue stare was getting to me "Ok, fine. It's...relationship stuff"

"Trouble with Jean?"

"Yeah"

"Well, aren't you lucky. I'm great at relationship advice" Emma said haughtily "What's causing trouble in paradise then?"

"I dunno" I start, uncomfortably "Just...drifting apart I guess. She's always busy with her practises and studying and we both have after school jobs"

And she might possibly want to be with someone else entirely.

You know, average couple stuff.

Emma nods "mhhm, mhhm...and tell me, are you getting laid as much as you'd like?"

I let out an embarrassing noise which was half a splutter mixed in with choking on air .

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm just asking" Emma shrugged innocently.

"I...you...you can't just ...no, that's not-" I stammer as Emma just keeps nodding like i'm giving away all the answers. I pause "Ok fine. We haven't...done it, in awhile"

"Does that include above the clothes action and hand stuff?"

"Emma!"

"What? I'm just trying to help"

I lean back in my chair and reach under my glasses to rub over my eyes "God, why did I bring this up.."

"Because it will do you good to let it out, that's why. Just roll with it. So is that a no on all counts of physical intimacy?" She said clinically.

I give in "Yeah"

I see Emma has grabbed her note book and is now scribbling down into it "...hasn't...gotten...laid...in...i'm sorry, how long did you say it was?"

"I didn't say, actually and -hey are you writing this down?!"

"Just notes" she shrugs as I rip the book from her hands.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't" I say flatly.

"Urgh, Bobby was right, you are rude when you're cranky"

"What? When did Bobby say that?"

"He texted me after you snapped outside your locker" she quickly opened her phone and showed me the message.

'just a heads up I think scott is PMSing over something cuz hes hella cranky and he might be a little rude to you next period lol btw should I get pizza for lunch?'

Honestly I just say the first thing that pop's into my head "Bobby has your number?"

"Yes?"

That's not fair. The fact that Emma gave Bobby her phone number first before me just...annoyed me.I didn't know it was being given away...I would have asked but that seemed forward, and it can come out so wrong if you're not careful.

"Why?"

"Because he asked for it" she laughs like it was simple.

Asking for a girls number was never simple.

"Why, do you want it too?"

"Yeah, I can give you mine as well" I pull my own phone from my bag "It's just good to have since you don't have facebook.."

I make up that rather legitimate excuse to try and hide the excitement over getting Emma's number. Don't laugh, I know it's lame, but I have maybe twelve contacts in my phone at the most. And four of them are family.

Emma takes one look at my phone and I think she's going to laugh "Oh my god, it's a relic"

It's actually a 2007 model Nokia I got when I was thirteen.

"It's had a long life..."

"The screen looks like it should be on a tamigotchi"

"I've dropped it maybe a thousand times and it still hasn't broken, sooo-"

"Don't try and defend it, that's just embarrassing" Emma smiles as she we exchange phones and I type my number into her latest model i-phone. The white one of course.

"Well, if you want to go out and buy me a flashy new one, be my guest" I joke but Emma was already back into business mode.

"Anyway, I won't let you change the subject, lets get back to where we were. What would you say the biggest issue between you and Jean is right now?"

I mull it over in my head for a second.

Oh fuck it.

"I heard from someone that she likes another guy"

Might as well go for the truth.

Emma raised her eyebrows, looking suitably surprised "Really? Thats a bit of an issue then" she says dryly "So who is it and who said it in the first place?"

"Warren, and Kitty was the one who told me"

"What? At that party?"

"Yeah"

"When she was drunker than my mother on my parents anniversary?"

"Ah, yeah...I know it might not be the most reliable source, but at least that's the reason why i'm in a foul mood"

Emma seems to think it over, tapping her pen on the desk "Mm, Jean and Warren...makes sense"

"What?"

"The adorable cheerleader, the resident school charmer...I can see that happening. I mean, even over the last week i've known her, you do see the two hang around each other quite a bit. Plus I have my business class with the both of them and they're always up the back whispering and sharing notes. Even if Kitty was drunk when she told you, there is other evidence" she said rationally but she must have seen my facial expression"Oh, Scott, i'm sorry. Don't look so hurt"

"They share notes in business class...?" I mumble feebly.

Emma puts her hand on my arm "No, no don't do that voice. Lets not go back to the 'feeling sorry for yourself' voice!"

"What kind of voice should I be using then?!" I say snappishly.

"I want you to use your 'were going to do something about this' voice"

"...what?"

"Scott, we need to look at the straight up facts here. There is a chance that your girlfriend may have a crush on someone else" Emma looked me right in the eye.

"Riight?"

"And that Warren might like her back but"she adds in quickly "That doesn't mean it's end game"

"Seems pretty end game to me" I say bleakly.

"Only if you roll over and give up. There isn't even any evidence to say they've done anything together yet, so you could say the battles only started. You are set on staying with Jean aren't you?" she questioned.

"Yeah...yeah, of course...I still love her"

"Of course you do. So if her eyes are wandering to someone else all of a sudden, you just need to focus on getting them back onto you. Don't whine, do something about it"

"I appreciate the pep talk but what can I do? I don't even know how I got her in the first place, I consider it a lucky fluke! I didn't charm her or anything...it's like she's only just realising this and that's why she's realised Warren's way better for her...If I have to compete with him, I have no idea how I could win"

Emma actually rolls her eyes. She's definitely not the sensitive type.

"Fine. No need to beg, I can get the hint"

I'm lost. Emma gives me what I think is meant to be a comforting smile, but it comes out more competitive than anything.

"I'm going to help you win Jean over"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The day went by very quickly after that free period. Or I just kind of hazed out of it. Either way I was now at home, sitting on my bed, just staring at the wall wondering what had happened in only the past forty eight hours to lead me to this point.

I, apparently, now had a self titled relationship therapist.

A.K.A. The girl my girlfriend hated.

A.K.A. Emma Frost.

It was definitely surprising that she wanted to help at all, but I guess I should appreciate it.

After she seemed to have set her mind to it she started flinging all sorts of ideas at me. Ways I could win back Jean's attention. Places to take her too, ideas for gifts, ways I could act she'd told me she'd go to her house after school quickly and grab some stuff before heading over here. Better to start sooner rather than later, she'd said...

So here I was, and just to recap again, expecting the girl I may have been briefly attracted too to come over and save my relationship with a girl that hates her and possibly me in favour of a guy I hate.

I probably could phrase that so it's easier to understand, but I won't.

Taking a look around my room, I wonder what Emma will think of it when she's here. Has she even been inside a house that isn't a mansion? My room's the biggest out of my brothers. Mom made us get our rooms the traditional way when we first moved in, with oldest having first pick and Gabriel chose the room furthest down the hall for reasons known only to Gabriel. The rooms still maybe half the size of Emma's though, and my big double bed takes up most of the space. One of my pillows still has the baseball printed cover on it rom the bed set I had when I was ten. I grab it and hide it under the bed, leaving only the nice and mature coloured dark blue ones out. I look around for anything else that was potentially embarrassing. The only thing I can think of is that it's too...neat. Bobby says i'm OCD because I keep my room so organised.

I just can't stand leaving clothes crumpled on the floor.

Plus I may line all of my shoes up at the bottom of my closet.

And file all my schoolwork at my desk in labelled folders and drawers.

And organise my book and DVD shelf in alphabetical order.

….ok maybe I was little OCD. I liked my room and it's bare essentials.

I hear the doorbell ring.

"I've got it!" I yell as I leap off the bed and race out of my room. I race too fast, I don't see where I'm stepping and I fall straight over Cable who, of course, is lying straight across the hallway. I let out a muffled yell as he barks and I land hard on my hands and knees on the hardwood floors. When I move into my own place I swear it will have carpet, locks on every door and really wide hallways.

I curse as I hear the front door open and I hear Emma's faint voice. Then someone replies.

Alex.

I rush to my feet, wincing as I get up and hurry down the stairs.

Alex is standing there with the door open to Emma as she stood on the welcome mat with a large tote bag under her arm.

"Ah, there you are" she said, looking past Alex and right at me "I thought you'd texted me the wrong address for a second" she stepped in. I notice Alex blatantly staring at her with his mouth slightly open. Then he looked at me. Then back to Emma, or more specifically, the back of her as she walked past him and up the stairs by me.

He looked so confused.

Confused and jealous.

I couldn't help it. I must've looked pretty smug as I led Emma to my room.

She walked in before me and quickly dumped her bag on my bed, along with herself, as she looked around.

"So was that you're little brother?"

"Yup, Alex"

Emma makes herself comfortable as I close the door for some privacy, and it seems to hit me. My parents were out, Dad was at some meeting with his editor and Mom was at the hospital, Gabriel was locked up in his room and only Alex was downstairs.

I suddenly felt very alone with Emma. Alone with Emma who was on my bed.

God, why did my brain even take me to that place. The only reason she's here is to help me with my current relationship, i'm pretty sure thinking bad thoughts about her doesn't help the matter and-holy crap she's taking off her jacket.

I looked over to Emma as ditched the jacket, revealing a white halter neck top, revealing most of her back"Mm, it's warm in here" She said, brushing her long hair back over her shoulders as she leant back onto my propped up pillows.

I stared, standing a good few metres away from the bed "...I can probably turn down the heat if you want"

"No, I like it. It's cozy" she smiles lazily.

There is nothing sexy about the word cozy. There is nothing sexy about the word cozy. There is nothing sexy about the word cozy...even if it is in a british accent...dammnit.

"So, lets get to work"

" " I take my desk chair and roll it over closer, deciding not to share the bed with Emma and risk-and wait did she say work?

Before I know it Emma had tipped out the contents of her bag onto the were about seven different books that fell out.

"What are these for?" I feel like laughing.

"Scott, you study school books when you want to pass a test, and you study self help books when you want to win a girl back" Emma states "Now, firstly, a critics guide to dining out in new york city"

"Whats that for?"

Emma looks at me like i'm simple "For choosing the place you'll be taking her out for a romantic meal of course"

"Do we really need to go all the way into the city for that? That's around an hour by train"

"Oh, by all means take her down to the greasy pizza place down the road, see how far it gets you"

"Point taken" I say as I take he book from her, turning it over in my hands.

"Next, 'his needs, her needs' a relationship book by Willlard F harley"

That one sounds more promising. I take that one too.

"This one is called the 'language of love' and comes highly recommended by my older sister, even if she has been left by three boyfriend in a row now"

She picks up the next three "And these are just assorted ones I grabbed off Mum's personal self help book shelf. T'he self esteem work book' by Glenn R. Schiraldi, 'So you want to save your marriage' by Mary Thompson, I thought it would still be relevant, and 'the 12 step program for beating alcoholism' -and wait that's not meant to be in here" Emma frowned and threw the last one away.

"And finally The Kama Sutra"

Great. There was that spluttering/choking on air noise again.

"Emma" I say as a warning.

"Did you know the original indian Karma Sutra was actually a guide on how to live your entire life, and only a small section of it was dedicated to sex? Well, this is a version I got from Barnes and noble and its basically just all sex and skips the boring stuff so it's much better-"

"Emma!"

"What?" she stops flipping through the pages and looks up at me.

"I can't... why would you would bring me a sex book?"

"I thought you said that was one of the things you had an issue with?"

"Uh, yeah, but it's not that I need to know how to do it, I know that part" I get embarrassed when I see Emma smirk when I say that "That's not what the issue is regarding...that area"

Emma let out a sigh "Alright then...still, couldn't hurt to learn a few new exciting moves, could it? I mean look at this one, I bet you could pull this off" she holds up the book and I cringe.

This is one hell of an explicit book.

"Oh my god...how is he supporting her like that?" I turn my head, staring at it.

Emma stares with me "I don't know...I think he just has really strong thigh muscles"

We both look at it, transfixed for a few more moments before I snap myself out of it "Look, thanks for the offer but I think i'll be fine without that one at least..." I stack the rest of the books on my nightstand.

"Don't be silly, I'll leave it here for you to look at later" she says , her eyes glinting and I have to stop and look down at my shoes for a second. I'll have to make sure that goes under the bed with the baseball print pillow case to avoid detection from Mom or..well, anybody for that matter.

"Besides, you don't have to do any of the cirque du soleil level moves, just try something new that will take her off her guard. Take charge, push her down on the bed and tell her you want her, better yet take it out of the bedroom. Try the kitchen-"

"That seems unsanitary"

"Or the laundry room, on top of the dryer. Set the spin cycle just right and you can really-"

"Emma, please, just stop"

I needed her to stop. She was getting too graphic. I couldn't help but build the mental picture...I cross my legs just in case.

Emma looks amused "Ok fine. Lets talk about another approach then"

Thank god.

"You should buy her a gift, a nice one, just as a token of affection instead of waiting around for her birthday or christmas. Girls love that sort of thing"

I nod "That's a good idea"

"I know. and of course I'm going to go shopping with you to make sure you get something decent, not just a box of generic chocolates they had on sale at Walmart and flowers from the gas station"

That's an even better idea. I'm terrible at gifts.

"I also thought i'd help you pick out a nice date outfit and some decent cologne. Basic stuff"

"Keeping in mind I kind of have a limited budget"

At least compared to her I did.

"Yes, yes of course" she rolled her eyes, shushing me "So I was thinking thursday night when the mall's open late, we can go after school"

"Sounds good"

So we made our plans. Emma even wrote it up on a little scrap piece of paper from my desk, like some kind of play by play. Thursday night was the shopping trip. Saturday was the surprise date night I was going to take Jean on. We scoured through the critics review book until we found a moderately priced ,yet highly recommended, italian place in the city that we could get to easily by train. Then I would bring her back here and hopefully...make the bedsprings squeak...Emma's words not mine. I really wish she hadn't written that out in her neat handwriting.

In the middle of the page.

And underlined it.

After that was done we just...hung out. We watched a movie on my laptop. She didn't look thrilled with the selection I had but she ended up going with the new pirates of the Caribbean movie since she hadn't seen it before. Good choice, I love those movies, even the terrible sequels.

About half an hour into the film I ended up moving to the bed as well. I'd tried propping the laptop open on my desk, with Emma watching from where she lay on the bed and me on the desk chair further behind, but it was too hard to see the screen. Now, we were both propped up against the headboard with the laptop in the middle of us under a pile of cushions. I was kind of hyper aware of just how close my body was too Emma's at all times, but I tried to think nothing of it.

Just two friends...lying on a bed...as friends.

We were just at the penultimate show down of the movie, and It had turned slightly dark now as the sun started to lower outside, when my door swung open and Mom stepped in the room.

"Scott, I'm home, are you hungry now or should I start dinner later-and oh, hello" she stopped mid sentence as she spotted Emma, looking surprised.

I sat up straight and Emma smoothed down her skirt "Hello Mrs's Summers" she said,sounding posher than usual "I'm Emma...Scott's friend"

"...Hi Emma" Mom smiles, though she's blinking a lot. Her eyes flashed to me and then back to Emma. The awkwardness is filled with the sound of battling pirates as Mom stands at the door "Will you be staying for dinner?" she offers.

"Ah, no, thank you, but I think i'd better get home" Emma says quickly as she gets up and grabs her bag.

I stand up too, mimicking her. I kind of hope Mom will leave so I can, I dunno, say a proper goodbye. It's too awkward to even say anything with her standing right there. I feel her eyes on me like a hawk.

"Uh, well thanks for coming over" I say as we walk down the hall, Mom still watching all the way down the stairs and to the door.

"Yes, thanks for inviting me"

I crack a smile. We both sound so stupidly formal. Emma smirks too.

We notice Alex has his neck craned over the back of the couch to watch Emma, and she gives him a little wave to let him know she could see him. He quickly turns around back to the blaring TV.

"How are you getting home? You don't need a lift do you?"

"No, I just texted my driver five minutes ago so he'll be here in no time"

"Cool" I open the front door for her and she pulls her jacket back on as she steps outside.

"I guess i'll see you tomorrow at school then"

"Yeah, chemistry second period?"

"Mhm"

"Uh, yeah, cool. Seeya"

damn I already said that. "Bye" She gives me the briefest of smile and waves before trning around and leaving. I shut the door behind her.

Before I even full turn around I jump. Mom had come up not a metre behind me.

"God Mom, you gave me a heart attack.."

"So who was that?"

Her smile was still in place but her voice sounded strained. It was her snooping voice. The voice she uses when she knows who ate the last bit of ice cream in the fridge but she still steps into the room and innocently asks if anyone knows who did it...

It was a dangerous voice. You had to watch what you say.

"Mm, friend from school" I mumble, trying to walk back up stairs but Mom blocks my way.

"A new friend?"

"...yeah"

I go to move again but this time her arm actually swings across to the banister.

"Its just that you don't tend to make very many friends who are girls"

"So?"

If I sound defensive, it's because I am.

It's also very obvious that Alex is listening in. Yeah, turn down the volume on the TV jackass, that's not obvious at all.

"Nothing. Just asking honey...she's very pretty" she says, sounding as casual as she could.

I do a little shrug and a mumble, not agreeing or disagreeing on that statement. As soon as she moves her arm I dart up the stairs and retreat to my room.

Snooping Mom's.

Never a good thing.


	6. Dodgeball

Tuesday morning. The weather is awful today. The skies a dark grey colour and the sound of the heavy rain is what woke me up this morning. I'm fine with cold weather, and I don't mind rain when i'm nice and dry indoors, but right now it was just what I didn't need. I felt like the grey sky was reflecting my mood. Hm that sounded angsty didn't it? Well it's true. Nature was empathising with me.

Or mocking me.

Either one.

Anyway it didn't help at all. Neither did the water that was seeping into my cheap sneakers. Knew I should have jumped that last puddle.

"They say it's going to be overcast all week" Hank said as he and Bobby huddled under the one large yellow umbrella as we walked to school.

"This is shit. I hate the rain"

Oh, and Alex was walking with us too. He didn't have his own umbrella so he was forced to share one with me. Mom's orders. I zipped my rainproof jacket up higher as the wind beat against us. Alex made a little noise of annoyance next to me.

"Do you have to wear that thing? It looks so lame"

"It's practical"

"It's bright blue and yellow and has a million oversized pockets"

"A million oversized waterproof pockets" I huff as I noticed his own Hollister jacket already wet with the rain the wind was blowing at us.

"I don't know why everyone hates this weather. I like the cold" Bobby shrugs, only wearing a thin long sleeved shirt and jeans, not even shivering. "And no offence man, but that jacket is a little lame"

"It look's like it's made out of the same material they use for tents" Hank adds.

I think it is actually is made out of the same material but that doesn't stop me from telling them to shut up after they laugh.

We make it to the school doors earlier than usual, and just as I push open the school doors I look behind me and spot a flash of white. I stop and turn around fully to see Emma stepping out of the back of her car, opening up her umbrella first and then shutting the door behind her. She's wearing one of her usual white dresses but with added sheer white tights underneath (I had started to think she didn't actually feel the cold, or was just extremely dedicated to wearing as little as possible at all times. Not that I was complaining) and a pair of ankle boots with heels so high they would probably be considered a hazard to walk in on wet pavement. All she had on over the top was a white leather jacket with a giant fur hood.

I paused at the door, telling the others to go ahead, planning on holding it open for Emma and saying hello. I watched as the black Bentley pulled away from the curb and Emma started walking. She took about two steps before a particularly brutal gust of wind knocked into her side, sending her slightly off balance, and then her umbrella jerked in her hands and turned inside out. I heard her give a shriek of annoyance as the rain bucketed down on her, now with no protection, as she held onto her flyaway umbrella and her hair whipped around her head in the wind.

Did nobody else think to wear practical wet weather gear?

Cue Scott to the rescue.

"Need a hand?" I hurried over with my own umbrella as Emma noticed me.

"Scott?" she squinted at me, trying to move her hair out of her face. The rain didn't make it easy to see either "Oh god, what are you wearing?"

Apparently blue and yellow raincoats are easier to see.

"Come on" I gently grab onto her arm and get her under the umbrella as we both hurry back up the front steps and into the foyer of the school.

For a second Emma just stands there, dripping slightly onto the tiled floor as I shook off my raincoat and closed my umbrella.

"Well, so much for the hour I spend getting ready" she said, composing herself "And a fat lot of good this did me" she glared down at her completely inside out umbrella.

I notice the logo on the side of it "You have a Chanel umbrella?"

Emma gave me a side eye as she ran her fingers through her fly away hair "Oh, look at you knowing your designer brands. I must be having an influence" she looked at my rain jacket as I stuffed it into my bag "Well, a little one anyway"

"Hey, who's the dry one here?"

"I'd rather be drenched to the bone than wear polyester"

As we walk down the hall she gets out a little compact mirror "Urgh, look at me, I'm a mess. The only small mercy is the waterproof mascara I decided to wear today. The rest..." Emma screwed up her nose at her own reflection.

She honestly didn't look bad, in my opinion anyway. Obviously she was a bit wet and her hair was a bit wild, but in a way it kind of made her look...sexy? She always looked so proper with every single strand of hair fixed perfectly into place, it was actually kind of satisfying to see her look a little dishevelled, if only to prove that it was possible.

Of course i'm not going to tell her she looks sexy, I feel awkward enough admitting that in my head, but I do shrug and try to compliment her as nonchalantly as I can

"You look fine"

Emma gives me a look " 'Fine' doesn't cut it with me, unfortunately" she snaps her compact shut "I'm going to have go and find a girls bathroom immediately and do some damage control"

"Drying your hair under the hand dryers?" I smirk.

"...If you tell anyone I resorted to that, they'll find your body stabbed to death with a Chanel umbrella"

"Right. Got it. See you at lunch?"

"I'll be there"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"So Henry, tell us all about this green haired girl we spotted you with all night, hm?" Emma smiled coyly as she stared at him across the lunch table, looking nice and dry.

"Yeah, Hank, you sly dog" Bobby grinned, leaning back on his chair.

A smile spread across my face too as we all turned and ganged up on him as he sat and ate his sandwich, trying to look innocent.

"I have no idea what you're implying"

"Yes you do, don't play dumb" Emma said.

"Okay fine, but theres still not much to say about it"

"Try" She urges.

"Her names Abigail" I add helpfully, Hank sending me a glare.

"Oooh, Abigail" Bobby says with a flourish.

Hank stayed silent as me, Emma and Bobby bombarded him with questions.

"So are you interested?"

"Any plans to meet up with her yet?"

"Do you think it would get messy making out with a girlfriend who wears green lipstick?"

"All of you are jumping to completely irrational conclusions" Hank says impatiently as all three of us try not to laugh "She came up to me, It would have been rude not to talk to her. We ended up debating for hours wether Star trek or Battle Star Galactica was better"

I frowned "Battlestar Galactica, no competition"

"That's what I said"

We exchange a quick high five.

"Anyway, I found her blunt, rude, crass and argumentative just for the sake of being argumentative" Hank shrugged.

"But did you find her attractive?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's hardly important"

"But did you?"

"I think he did, since he totally got her number" Bobby said, casually flipping through Hank's phone which he'd silently swept from his bag ten seconds ago "they have been messaging aaaaaall weekend"

Hank went to grab back the phone from over the table but Bobby and Emma had already pushed themselves back in their chairs and were reading intently.

No fair. I should have sat on that side of the table.

Hank sat back down trying to look like he didn't care "Fine, read what you want. There's nothing incriminating. In fact we only exchanged numbers to continue our debate and so I could prove her wrong and so she can , assumedly, try and do the same to me. Not that she was succeeding"

"She seems quite into you though" Emma mumbled absentmindedly as she read.

Hank pulled a face "Emma, are we looking at the same messages? I think she calls me a neanderthal at least twice"

"Classic elementary school style flirting technique. The equivalent of a boy pulling the pigtails of the little girl he likes and then running away"

Hank scoffs "Yes, but were not in elementary school anymore"

"Well ,no offence to miss tall, pale and green haired, but she doesn't seem the most adapt at normal flirting, does she? Lots of people our age still stick to that old style of getting their object of affections attention by teasing and provoking them, all just to get a reaction" Emma explained clinically.

"Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen"

"Exactly, Bobby"

Hank seems to take this in "You think she does seem interested? In me, I mean? Really?"

"Girls don't stay up until two am in the morning talking about the pros and cons of William Shatner if they're not interested"

Hank can't seem to take the frown of deep thought off his face as he's handed his phone back.

O0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Wednesday morning. It's still raining. I'm still angsty.

Right now i'm hanging back behind my locker door, head down, as I peer over to the other side of the hall where Jean and Warren are casually talking near the drink fountain, both completely oblivious to the fact that i'm watching them.

Like i've mentioned before, it's been hard to talk to Jean the last couple of days.

It's not like I followed them straight from first period with the intent to stalk them, in fact I don't even want to use that particular word, but I just happened to end walking behind them in the hall and excuse me for just observing in silence for the last few minutes.

Aha! Right there! He just flexed his arms right in front of her in his stupidly over tight Abercrombie and fitch shirt, I saw it! Some would say he was just stretching to scratch the back of his head, but oh no, I know his game. Smooth, Worthington, smooth.

"Are you alright?"

I jump and attempt to spin around but my head clangs into my locker door. I curse under my breath.

"Oh, shit, sorry!" Kitty winces as I clutch my head "Did that hurt?"

My skull colliding with metal, no Kitty, not at all.

"I'm fine, just.. don't sneak up on people like that"

"My bad. Have you seen Bobby?"

"Uh, yeah we just had history together, why?" The pain subsides and I shut my locker door, glancing over at Jean and Warren again quickly.

Kitty shrugs "No big reason, Lockheed's just better now and I thought he would want to know"

Oh, the sick lizard thing.

"I'll pass on the message" I assure her before she turns to head off. She seems to pause, check herself and quickly turn back.

"Oh and...were you spying on Jean just now?"

I let out a strangled laugh "What? No! Of course not, that would be stupid... thats totally the opposite of what I am doing...yeah, no"

We stand there for a second.

"Well, I'm gonna go to class now"

"Yeah, yeah me too...yeah"

She gives me a look, one eyebrow raised, before leaving.

I think I pulled that off.

Turning back around , I see that Jean and Warren are now gone.

Damn, that smooth bastard.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Next class was free period, but me and Emma had gotten a permission slip from our teacher to go and study in the library today.

Not that we were actually planning on studying, its just that Bobby had his free period at the same time in the library anyway and Hank wanted to ditch his Biology class since he was 'Already beyond this point of the curriculum'. His words not mine. So we had strategically organised to meet up at one of the back tables in the library to do...absolutely nothing.

Well, Emma had borrowed one of the libraries chess boards and was trying to teach Bobby how to play, but other than that we were just talking.

If you had told me two weeks ago that I would be purposely missing out an opportunity to revise and catch up on school work in order to goof off, I would have laughed at you. But now?...it was kind of agreeing with me.

Again, still angsty. A little chill out time was good.

"No, no, no Bobby, you can't take out my castle with your knight, they can't move diagonally, only three squares forward to the side or back and one to the right or left" Emma moved the chess piece back from where it had been moved.

Bobby screwed up his nose "What?"

"...the horsey can only move in an L shape" she said in a deliberately slow, sweet voice and Hank chuckled.

Plus it was kind of fun anyway.

"So hows the date planning going?" Hank asked. I told him on facebook chat last night-

"Date? What date? Who are you going on a date with?"

-specifically so Bobby wouldn't hear about it too.

"Jean, who do you think I'd be going out with?" I say, already annoyed that he knew about the whole thing.

"Oh, yeah, no shit" he says to himself "But why do you need to take her on a date? You're already going out with her? I thought you didn't need to bother with that stuff after you've already convinced 'em to go out with you? Plus you and Jean have been going out for sooooo long, I thought you'd be like, way beyond the whole 'going out together on dates' thing anymore. Where are you even going to take her? Oh my god, romantic restaurant? The idea of you being romantic is the funniest thing I can even imagine. Remember that one Valentines day? He bought her chocolates but he left them in his car and they melted all over the back seat and he spent half the day trying to clean it up. Soooo romantic...but yeah, why the sudden date?"

This.

This is exactly why I did not tell Bobby.

"Because...I just..."

"Haven't gotten any in awhile?"

"On the money" Emma jokes under her breath.

"No! That's not the reason why!"

Ok, it was like 20% the reason why.

"We haven't really had the chance to spend much time together lately and I just thought it'd be nice" I say simply.

Emma gives me a look but keeps her mouth shut. Obviously she gets that I don't want to bring up the Warren thing. If this date goes as planned he will be obsolete anyway.

"I've booked a table at the restaurant, I'm going shopping for a present tomorrow, I know Mom's working that night and I talked to Dad and he's agreed to go out that night too so we can have some alone time-"

Cue Bobby doing that obnoxious 'bow-chika-wow-wow- thing that wasn't even funny back in 2005.

"-All I have to do is get my brothers out of the house and that should be easy with bribe money"

Hank nods "Sounds nice. Is Jean excited then?"

I pause "I haven't told her about it yet"

"What? Why not?"

All three of them look at me and I shrug "I thought it would be a nice surprise?"

God, I think all of them have synced up. They all suck in air through their teeth and give me pitying looks.

I have obviously done this wrong.

"What? Girls like surprises!...don't they?"

"Not when it comes to impromptu dates. She needs to make sure she washed her hair that night, has a nice dress to wear, shaved that morning, etc " Emma lists these things off as I sit there clueless.

"Yeah and what if she makes other plans" Bobby says.

"Not to mention you're just about the least surprising person ever, an impromptu date would be the last thing she's even expecting from you" Hank says, completely serious.

"And that's not a good thing? Being a new and exciting, impromptu Scott?" I ask.

None of them speak. They all just look at each other.

Is it that hard to think of me as exciting?

"Ok, i'll tell her about it. But not all the details! I'll just say I have something special planned and to keep friday night open. That sounds good right?"

I finally have their approval as they nod and agree and the subject is dropped.

"King me!"

Emma sighs "Bobby, that's checkers"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Last class of the day is Phys Ed. Having a shitty class last period is like facing the final frontier before you get to go home, or the big boss battle at the end of a video game before you have the wonderful feeling of winning.

Aaaaaand were still in the gym playing dodgeball with Mr. short, hairy and Canadian ,because of the damn rain.

Such a shitty class.

Mr. Howlett blows on his whistle loud enough to have us all gather round him in the middle of the gym.

"Ok, Listen up! As you're all aware- and Maddrox stop bouncing that dodgeball right now or the one I'm holding goes at your head- the school has had to fire a whole handful of our sports departments staff because of, well, ' the incident'-"

Bobby mimes dragging on a joint in front of me and we smirk.

"-so were stretched pretty thin right now. The school's decided it's best that we combine some of the existing classes"

Theirs a faint murmur of talk before the whistle gets blown again, shutting us up.

And as if it was perfectly timed, the gym doors are pushed open and the girls senior class walks in, all of them chatting and laughing, led by Mrs. Clifton . All of them in their sports uniforms.

I hear Bobby mutter under his breath next to me. "Oh. Fuck. Yes"

A lot of the other guys seem very excited by this two, theres a few whoops and cat calls.

"God, keep it in your pants" Mr. Howlett growls moodily, and the girls laugh as they join us.

Jean immediately comes over to me, playfully batting me on the shoulder "Surprised to see us?" Ororo, Rogue, Kitty and Betsy following her.

"Yeah" I laugh "This class might finally be decent now"

I actually go in for a quick kiss but Jean was oblivious, quickly turning her head and waving over to the front of the group.

"Hey, Mr Howlett!" She called cheerily. He gave a small wave back as he took Mrs. Clifton

's attendance clipboard off of her.

After the roll it was on. It was time to elect team leaders.

"Any volunteers?"

I raised my hand at exactly the same time as Jean did. We look at each other and laugh. Mr Howlett rolled his eyes.

Asshole can't appreciate our cute moment.

He jerks his thumb to Jean "Fine, Jeanie, you're captain number one, and I guess you'll have to be-"

He was literally seconds away from letting me be captain just this one time and,of course, something had to ruin it.

"Coach, can I be team leader instead? "

Jamie Maddrox, you sit your ass down.

I glare at him but he pretends not to notice "He already picked me Jamie" I point out. Sucker.

"Uh, no he hasn't, I think it's still up for debate" He smiles rudely.

I know it doesn't sound right saying he was 'smiling rudely' but trust me, it's what he was doing.

I should take the high road, be the bigger person.

Be mature about this.

"Uh, well I'm pretty sure the fact that you suck at being team leader isn't up for debate, so..."

Or I could not.

Jamie scoffed "Oh, that's rich coming from you, nobody even likes you as team leader! All you do is boss people around and tell them where to go and where to hit the ball!"

"That's the point of being a leader, genius!"

"Fight, fight, fight" Bobby chants, helpfully.

A loud whistle sounds out, shutting us all up "Neither of you dumbasses is gonna lead a team!" Howlett growls out "Does literally anybody else want to do this? Anybody who isn't a dumbass? You have five seconds before I choose someone at random"

Before I even had time to stick my middle finger up at Jamie, who in my defence totally put his up to me 3 seconds ago, a girls voice from the back of the group spoke up.

"I'd like to do it"

I whip my head around. Emma was in this class?

I hadn't spotted her come in with the crowd, but there she was, standing up from the back in her little black work out shorts and the grey sports shirt with the school's X insignia on it. A few guys give her appreciative looks, probably over just how short her shorts were.

Pfft, sexist pigs.

Though saying that, as she walks past me I steal a glance myself.

Damn. Now i'm sexist.

Emma was the kind of hot that just made a guy sexist... for a split second. I'm ok now.

Anyway, moving on, Jean and Emma were now at the front of the class, ready to pick their teams.

"Jeannie, you pick first" Howlett barked.

Jean was my girlfriend, of course I wanted to be on her team and even now she was giving me the eye that assured she was going to pick me first. Boyfriend privileges I guess.

"Why should she automatically get to pick first? Shouldn't there be a coin toss? That only seems fair" Emma cut across, her face unflinching.

There were a few tuts from the group. I think it was Betsy and Rogue.

Mr. Howlett looked impatient with Emma "I don't have a coin on me"

"Think of a number then, between 1 and 20. Whoever guesses closest gets to pick first" Emma offered. Howlett glared a rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'm thinking of a number, both of you guess" he said gruffly.

Emma and Jean immediately shot out their answers at exactly the same time.

"27"

"29"

They both stared at each other. Jeans arms were folded, Emma's hand were on her hips. Mr. Howlett frowned as he looked between them, sensing the weird tention. Hell, everyone in the class could feel it.

"...Ok, I was thinking of 28" he said slowly.

Emma tutted "So that means it's a tie. Go again" she instructed.

Howlett gave Emma a glare that clearly showed he wasn't used to taking orders from Blonde teenage girls that only came up to his armpit, but Emma glared back showing that she was clearly used to giving them.

"Ok, i've got another number"

"16!"

"16"

If it wasn't weird enough already, they both called out their answer in unison again, but this time it was exactly the same answer.

Even Howlett looked mildly wide eyed as he nodded "...Right. It was 16"

There was a minor eruption of chatter as everyone marvelled at how unlikely both of those guesses were.

"Make them do it again!" Bobby cheered out happily.

"Yeah, what number am I thinking of?" Maddrox asked to the both of them.

Howlett shut everyone up with a blast on his whistle "Ok, ok, enough of this, just someone go first. I don't care who"

Emma and Jean turned to each other, each waiting for the other to speak. Jean suddenly shrugged and look nonchalant "Well, I honestly don't care who chooses first so-"

"Good, then I will" Emma smiled, and without missing a beat, turned to the crowd "Scott"

She called my name.

She called my name?

I catch eyes with Jean who is glaring daggers at Emma. She'd said it so quickly, no pause or deliberation at all.

She'd definitely planned to pick me first.

Getting up slowly, I can feel the class looking between the three of us. I walk past Jean and shoot her a helpless look as I stand behind Emma. Jean looks pissed. Emma looks pleased with herself.

I don't mind being on Emma's team but...Jean's my girlfriend. It's kind of an unwritten rule that I should obviously be on her team. Right? Did Emma not see the rules? Did she not see that this comes off as weird?

But then I think about it. Maybe it's not so weird, from Emma's perspective at least. It kind of dawns on me that I'm kind of the closest thing she has to a best friend right now.

Not that Jean would be taking this into consideration. Her mouth is a thin, straight line and she isn't making eye contact with either of us.

"Warren" she calls out.

Ouch. I think I physically felt that as she said it.

Warren struts up happily to stand by Jean.

"Hank" Emma calls out, not surprisingly.

"Betsy" Jean calls.

"Bobby"

Bobby lets out a quick whoop, complete with fist pump into the air, as he stands up and races behind us.

As Jean deliberated which one of her girlfriends to pick next, Bobby leant over to whisper in Emma's ear "Pick Kitty next" she didn't say anything but she gave a small nod.

"Ororo"

"Kitty" Emma called out.

Kitty looked less than pleased as she forced herself away from her friends to get up and stand with us. Emma didn't look guilty at all.

I leant over to Emma as Jean chose once again "Pick Maddrox next"

"Why? I got the impression you two hated each other?" she frowned as she whispered back to me.

"Oh, we do, but he's a great dodgeball player. It's like he has the ability to be in five places on the court at once"

I may not like the guy but I'm not above taking advantage of him in the name of winning.

"And you should see the bruise he gave Scott in the last match we had. Killer right arm throw" Hank stated matter of factly and Emma nodded. I didn't think that was necessary to mention but whatever.

"Jamie" she called after Rogue went up to stand with Jean.

This went on for another few minutes and in the end our teams ended up as Jean, Warren, Betsy, Ororo, Theresa, Jean-paul, Rogue, Kurt, Pietro and aWade VS Emma, me, Hank, Bobby, Kitty, Jamie, Sam, Layla (Jamie made us choose her as they are now going out apparently. See? The girlfriend/boyfriend same team privilege rule in action right there!) Alison and Wanda.

We quickly fanned out and took our sides as Mr Howlett lined the six balls up in the middle of the court.

"Ok, game plan-" I start as soon as were in a circle, but of course, Jamie interrupts.

"What do you mean game plan? Its dodgeball. You run for the balls and then ditch them at people, you don't need a plan"

"Well, Jamie, I happen to have researched a lot of online college tournament games-"

"of course you have"

"-and I picked up a few strategies"

"Like what? Make sure you run faster to the line and grab more balls than them?Wow, smart 'strategy'" he said sarcastically.

"Actually, if you've noticed, Jean has the two fastest guys in our year on her team, so I would bet they're going to be able to grab at least two of the six balls before we do easily. I suggest only sending Kitty, Layla and Bobby out for the first run, because they're small and fast"

Jamie shuts up and I think this is because he realises my plan is good. Hell, I know it's good.

And in case your wondering, I didn't just mention researching college dodgeball games to make Jamie shut up, I really did do that a few days ago. I was bored.

And also I really, really hate losing, even if I hate the game.

Emma nods too "Good, were all on the same page. Hank, you better stay towards the back, no offence but you're a larger target than most of us and won't be able to dodge as fast"

"None taken"

Then blew his whistle and the game really was about to start. We all took our positions on the court waiting for him to blow it the second time.

I stood behind Emma and she quickly turned back to me "Good thing you know what you're doing Scott"

"Hm?" I ask, not getting what she meant.

she smiles "Oh, I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never even played dodgeball before"

I blink "What..then why...why would you want to be captain if you don't even...why haven't you played dodgeball before?!"

"Please. I went to the richest prep school in the state. We learnt fencing and played water polo"

Then the whistle blew and it began.

Just as a I thought, Pietro and Jean-Paul raced across faster than anyone else and grabbed the first two balls, with Betsy and Jean also getting one each. We only managed to get two balls, thanks to Bobby and Layla. Kitty had gone for one too but didn't reach it in time, leaving her right out the front as an easy target, and she was immediately attacked by Pietro. The ball hit her square in the chest and she left the court, not looking too upset.

Jean-paul launched his ball at Sam, who caught it easily and sent it straight back, hitting Ororo on the shoulder and she was out.

Jean threw her ball hard and fast towards Emma, but she seemed to be expecting this and just managed to move out of the way in time, leaving Hank to pick it straight up and throw it at Rogue, but she had just caught a rebounding ball and she used it to knock the attack out of the way. It went straight back into our court and I dived for it, just managing to dodge a ball from Betsy as a threw it at Theresa, getting her out. Our team let out a cheer and Theresa let out a string of curse words, which Howlett seemed happy to ignore.

"Screw ye' Summers!" she said as she flipped me off from the sidelines. I found it funny.

Jamie was running around the court like a mad man, avoiding every ball that came towards him, and in one case even ran to intercept a ball that was aimed straight for Layla, saving her and grabbing it.

I was impressed, but it's not like i'd tell him that.

Wanda got out pretty fast. I didn't even see it, I just heard her shriek as she was hit "Pietro!"

"Sorry sis!" he shouted as he grabbed yet another ball and took a shot at our side. He didn't seem to be aiming though and it went straight to Bobby though. He held it for a second, looking for the perfect target, but he took a second too long, and Kurt saw this as a chance to throw a fast one at his feet. He didn't have time to move.

"Get him out for me!" He said bitterly as he walked past us "Avenge me!"

Emma was the one to take the ball he had. I had an idea of who she was going to aim for.

Jean managed to duck out of the way of Emma's ball but as she did, it soared straight past her to hit Warren in surprise. I let out a loud half laugh, half cheer. Jean glared across the court as I high fived Emma. I tried to look sorry. It was hard.

I was so pleased watching Warren walk off after taking a ball to the face that I almost got hit by one of Rogues shots. She was a machine at this. She quickly grabbed another rebound ball and then another, know holding onto two. She waited until the perfect moment where she launched both at the same time towards Hank. He didn't have a chance. Another minute later she did this again with Alison, and her team cottoned on quickly, now feeding her the balls they caught so she could use her ambush technique for the third time to get out Sam.

Now we only had four players while they had seven.

"Come on team!" Bobby cheered from the sidelines.

"Take out Scott next Rogue!" Theresa called out gleefully "Hit 'im where it hurts!"

Ok, with that threat against me, it was time to step up.

"Ok, Jamie, Layla, Emma" I say quickly as we back off from the line "Try and get every single on of the balls in our court, hold onto them, don't throw them back"

they nod. Jamie already had one of the six balls and he held it firm. As soon as Pietro launched over a ball Layla made sure to catch it. Betsy aimed for Jamie but he reflected it, and I caught it off the rebound. Rogue tried her signature move again but now we were on to her. I figured out she always aimed low so I managed to jump up and over the balls as they went to my feet, and Emma was behind me to catch one of the rebounds and Jamie scooped up the other.

Now they only had one ball left, and we had the rest. We paused and waited. Jean held her teams only ball in her hands, watching us.

"Wow, this is like a mexican stand off right now" Wade commented.

She eyed me, looking like she wanted to ditch at me badly. Then she looked at Emma, looking like she wanted to ditch it at her even more. In a surprise move she suddenly threw it straight at Jamie, and it was so sudden I thought he wasn't going to make it, but by a miracle he dodged it, and now it was our turn.

"At Rogue!" I called out quickly and in perfect synch, all four of us ditched all five balls at Rogue in one fast move and she screamed as she was barraged. One ball even went of course, thanks to Emma's aim, and hit Jean-Paul on the shoulder. They both slumped off and Kitty, Bobby and Alison acted as our cheerleaders at the side.

Of course, now they're side had five balls, but they tried to ditch them at us quick and suddenly and we were ready to dodge. Emma was light on her feet at the front and side stepped a ball from Pietro as well as one from Betsy only seconds later. I picked one up and threw it at Kurt, hitting him in the side, making him blurt something out in German with a hiss of pain.

"Sorry!" I hollered out as he walked off. I wasn't that sorry though. Now we were even.

I was busy trying to aim every ball I got at Pietro that I narely glimpsed it, but I swear I saw Emma subtly bend over to pick up a stray ball just as Wade was trying to aim at us. He paused to stare long enough for Layla to ditch a ball straight at his face. He let out a groan but then shrugged as he walked off "Worth it". Emma bent up again looking pleased with herself and her choice of hot pants.

"Hey, that's not fair, you can't distract the other teams players!" Jean called out, scowling at Emma.

Emma didn't look phased "Not my fault if i'm a little distracting" I even saw her give a quick wink over to Pietro and he faltered for a second, almost getting hit by a ball from Jamie.

Jean scoffed and I could hear Jean-Paul from the sidelines "Wouldn't happen if I was still playing.."

Pietro seemed embaressed to have almost been caught out and I saw a look of determination cross his face as he grabbed a ball and ditched it as hard and as fast as he could right at Layla. She was taken by surprise and tried her best to catch it but it was no good, it went straight to her stomach and she keeled over, the wind knocked out of her.

"Hey!" I yelled at Pietro, who looked too pleased with himself over that but Jamie actually stopped and ran over to her to check if she was alright. Betsy saw this as a perfect chance to get him out, and the ball she threw collided with the back of his head.

"What the hell man!" he said angrily to Howlett "Call them out on that!"

Howlett shrugged "You didn't call time out, game's still on"

Typical, I thought. Jamie glared as he helped Layla up and they wen't off to the side.

It was Jean, Betsy and Pietro VS me and Emma.

I glanced over to Emma and she looked as determined as I was.

"I hate losing" she said sharply.

"Probably not as much as me"

She smirked and we turned back to the game. Jean tried aiming at me but I dodged it. Emma tried aiming at Jean but she dodged that just as easily. While this went on I whispered to Emma "Hold on to the balls again, get two at a time. We'll get Pietro this time" She nodded and we put the plan into action.

As soon as we had two in each hand, they knew what we were going to do so we had to act fast. I ran to one side of our court, while Emma ducked over to the other. It looked like I was going to go for Betsy and Emma was aiming for Jean, but instead we let them fly towards the middle where Pietro was, and he was hit from both sides with no where to run and escape. Jamie cheered loudest of all when he got out and me and Emma looked triumphantly at each other.

The final ball was placed on the centre line for the last time.

"I'm running for it" Emma said to me as we walked back, waiting for Howlett's whistle. I nodded.

There was a lot more chanting from the side lines now.

"Go Jean! Take 'em out lass!"

"Don't screw it up Summers! ...I still think I should've been captain"

"Go Ella!"

"Wade, Her name's Emma..."

"Oh,...Whatever"

The whistle sounded and both girl dashed to the ball, their shoes squeaking on the hardwood floors. They looked evenly matched, both barely a metre away from grabbing it, it looked like they were going to collide over it, but at the last second Jean actually dived forward through mid air to land on top of the ball. Emma didn't get out of the way in time and she was collided into as Jean slid across the floor into her legs, causing her to fall over her in a heap.

There was a loud cheer from her team, my team and a lot of laughing. Even Howlett was smirking.

"Uh, what the hell was that? That has to be a foul!"

"You wish. Now get off of me before I get you off of me, You're heavier than you look" Jean said as she tried pushing Emma off of her.

Emma looked more offended at the weight remark more than anything else, and she made sure to stick an elbow into jeans side as she got up and untangled herself.

Now I was five metres away watching this, and i'm not an expert on lipreading, so I cant tell you exactly what Emma said as she leant down and mouthed something to Jean, but I can say I saw Jean's expression after she said it.

It was not a pleasant expression, so i'm guessing it was something bad.

Before Emma even knew what was happening a dodgeball had collided with her face at full force and she let out a shriek.

"OOOOOhhh shiiiit" Bobby said lowly as the rest of us looked on, gaping.

"Oh, my stars and garters..." Hank muttered, eyes wide as Emma clutched a hand over one side of her face.

I immediately run over just as Jean's jumped up and looked ready to take another shot at Emma, quickly getting in the middle.

"Woah, woah, ok, calm down" I try and sound authoritative but an angry Jean is a scary thing to face. I am man enough to admit that if push came to shove she could probably take me down.

"Scott, get out of the way, you didn't hear what she said to me!"

Ororo and Betsy were now both behind Jean as well, gently holding her back, still glaring daggers at Emma.

"Why, what did she say?" Kitty asks, as everyone now crowds around.

Even with a bruised face Emma still managed a small smirk "Nothing that wasn't true" she said lightly.

Jean's face contorted again and she took another sudden lunge at Emma. I got in the way and actually grabbed onto her arms so she couldn't scratch out an eye, while Ororo still tried to pull her back. Hank had subtly stepped in front of Emma like some kind of line of defence.

"Jean, stop, the bitch isn't worth it" Betsy said.

Emma rolled her eyes "God, so dramatic.."

"One more word out of you girl, and i'll show you dramatic!" Rogue stepped up and waved a finger at Emma, Hank managing to stop her getting to close to a second black eye.

"Ok, seriously, Emma, I think you should run. Now. Go" Bobby said with a completely straight face.

"Scott, I will bite you if you don't let go off me right now"

"No, I think you just need to relax and not do anything stupid-"

"Girl fight, girl fight, girl fight!" Wade chanted.

There was a sharp whistle and the crowd stepped back as finally stepped in. Jean stopped struggling against me and Ororo, her face still murderous.

"God, fucking teenagers, should have been a dentist or some shit" he muttered so lowly I barely heard it "OK everyone just calm the hell down! And let Jeannie go Slim, jeesus, what are you trying to do?"

Er, I dunno, prevent grievous bodily harm to herself and others? I don't say anything though and step back.

"You alright Jeannie? You calm?" He put a hand on her shoulder and she paused to glare at Emma before turning back and nodding "Good. Now go change. Collect yourself before you do anything stupid and I have to send you to the principal, I don't want to have to do that Jeannie"

I was unsettled by how effortlessly he'd stepped in and managed to calm Jean down, while I almost got bitten for attempting the same thing.

Howlett then turned to Emma "And you-"

"You saw her, she attacked me-"

"Yeah, shuttup" he cut across her sharply.

Emma looked affronted as Howlett held up his hand and glared "You provoked her and you know it, so don't try and play that card here, girly"

"'Girly'?" Emma spat , frowning "You can't just let her-"

"I can do what I want, and I call them like I see them. So unless you want to end up in the principals office too, which can be arranged, shuttup and go change too. After Jean. I don't want you two in the locker rooms at the same time"

Jean and Emma shared one last hate filled look before Jean headed off to change. I tried to catch her eye but she turned her head.

"Can we go with her Mr. Howlett?" Theresa asked. He nodded, and almost all the rest of the girls, Ororo, Betsy, Rogue and Kitty, followed after her together.

I really hate dodgeball.


	7. Rosie O'Donnel

It had only been hours after the 'fight' as everyone was calling it, and already Jean's phone was blowing up with text message after text message.

After the Phy's-Ed class from hell had ended, and I'd made sure Emma was alright and not sporting a broken nose, I went to find Jean out the front of the school. When I got there she was still surrounded by her girlfriends, but as soon as they saw me it went quiet. Uncomfortably quiet. They all quickly made excuses to leave

"I think that's my Mom's car, gotta go"

"Ugh, yeah, I was going to catch a lift with whatshisface, later"

"...my pet lizard is still sick, sooo...bye"

Then it was just me and Jean and the uncomfortable quiet. I dropped my bag back to the ground and took a seat on the bench she was on.

That's when the text messages started.

"Just got one from Tabitha, she's asking if I really did punch Emma in the face like everyones saying"

"Hm"

"And here's one from Jubilee saying someone told her I knocked her unconscious. I wish"

I still don't say anything.

"Oh and apparently when Theresa told Monet she didn't stop laughing for like ten minutes" Jean smiled as she looked at her phone.

"Can you stop acting so proud of yourself?" I snap at her and her smile falls.

"Scott, what's wrong-"

"You hit her in the face, you physically attacked someone. You really want to brag to your friends about something like that?"

Jean frowns "God, what's your problem, she deserved it"

"Really? How? I'd love to know"

"You should have heard what she said to me!" Jean said defensively.

"Then tell me"

"I don't want to"

"And why not?"

"Because it's beside the point!"

I stare at her incredulously "I would have thought it would have been the main point!"

"Well, it doesn't matter, it was just rude and she's a bitch, and why do you care?" she said with a huff.

I shrug "Because...she's my friend?"

Jean looks like she wants to roll her eyes at me "And I'm your girlfriend. Who's side do you think you should be taking?"

I sigh "I'm not taking sides, but you were the one who threw a dodgeball at her-"

"-and she was the one to provoke me!"

"But you won't even tell me what she said!"

We stare hard at each other for a second before Jean turns back down to her phone.

"Jean" I say softly "This isn't like you. You don't...you don't go around throwing things at people when they make you mad, that's not you"

"You don't know that. Maybe I just haven't met enough people who make me mad"

I can tell that's a joke as the corner of her mouth twitches upwards. She looks up at me for a minute and we sit in silence.

"Ugh, fine. It was about you, ok" she blurts out suddenly.

I pause for a second "About me?"

"Yeah, you" she says in a 'No-duh' voice, flicking me on the shoulder.

My mind races trying to connect any dots, but Jean seem's to need more prompting before she speaks again "Umm...is this because she chose me to be on her team?"

"No...well, kind of. A little bit"

I'm still not following.

My facial expression must've expressed this.

Jean sighs again "she said she was so lucky to have you on her team" she said coldly.

I take this in for a second "I...is that what she said?"

"I know right! I couldn't believe it either. How could she expect me not to retaliate!"

"Jean, ok, wait...just...clarify this for me here. That is all she said?"

Jean stares at me blankly "Yes?"

"She didn't say anything else? Like, she didn't call you a bitch or any other name or something?"

"Why are you even asking that?" she frowns lightly.

I deliberate wether I should stop talking now because what I'm about to say next might be risky.

I decide to risk it.

"It's just that that doesn't seem that bad"

Jean's mouth thins "Excuse me?"

Oh god. I take it back. The risk wasn't worth it.

"I would have just thought that in order for you to act so crazy, she must've said something completely awful. Saying 'I'm so lucky to have Scott on my team' doesn't even sound like...anything" I shrug.

"It's not what she said, its the way she said it!"

Oh, yes, because that makes sense?

"Do you even know what she's doing right now?" Jean asks slowly "She's playing mind games with me .Deliberately stealing you for her team? Sitting with you at every lunch period? Saying something like that to my face? It's like she's trying to move in on you, to get a rise out of me"

I laugh like that's absurd "Jean, I don't think Emma's trying to 'move in' on me"

"Oh really?" she said with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, and anyway, weren't you the one who said that I'm not the kind of guy Emma would go for? That you were sure nothing would happen between us for a million years?" I pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, and I stand by that, but she's not actually interested in you, you know what I mean?"

I think I do, and, ouch.

"She's doing this to get at me. To annoy me. I see that now"

I shake my head and try not to laugh "I really don't think that's what she's doing"

Its funny since Jean doesn't know that Emma is, in fact, the one who offered to help our relationship and that just tomorrow she would be out helping me buy a present for her.

Yeah, sure Jean, she's totally out to get you.

"Anyway, I don't think you should really hang out with her anymore, and I know I said I wanted you to find out all that stuff about her getting expelled and whatever, but at this point I don't even care. I know what kind of girl she is now, so there's no way I'd let her hang out with us regardless" she says, absentmindedly going back to texting.

I was about to say something in defence of Emma before Jean had started talking again but now I'd froze up.

"Um...don't you think that's a bit of over-reaction? You don't even know if that's actually what she meant when she said that to you. You don't know what's going on in her head-" I start but I'm cut off.

"Scott, trust me, I do. And I don't like her or what she's doing-"

"- what you think she's doing" I cut her off this time.

Jean looked at me with what I thought was pity "Scott, seriously, don't be so naive"

I start to get annoyed but I don't want it to show

"I'm not naive, and you can't tell me who I can and can't be friend's with"

I brace myself for Jean to get angry at me for saying that, even an icy toned comeback, but nothing. She just kind of looks at me.

"Fine" she says, calmly "Just... watch out I guess"

She goes back to her phone and I sit there.

This response seemed a little scarier than anger or yelling or anything. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything, maybe I should have just agreed to stop hanging out with Emma.

Then I think about all our free period classes together, our stupid lunch time conversations with Hank and Bobby, all her sarcasm and wit, even just sitting and watching a dumb pirate movie with her...

No, I'm glad I said something. I have a friend who's funny and smart and charming, and who I get on with so effortlessly. I don't want to give that up.

Jean is important to me, and she has been for a long time, but the more I think about it, I realise maybe Emma is becoming important to me too.

o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o

Even before first period Thursday, the gossip was already out of control.

"Did you hear Jean got into a fight with Emma over her boyfriend?"

"Oh my god, Scott Summers? I wondered why him and that Emma chick had been hanging out so much. She sits at his lunch table, like, everyday"

"Yeah, I heard from Theresa that they showed up and left together at her party"

"Plus they're always up the back talking together in free period"

"Figures, she looks like a total skank. You can just tell what kind of girl she is"

"Poor Jean, she's been with him for ages"

"I don't know much about the guy, but Scott always seemed like a good boyfriend at least"

"Well, I was on skype to Betsy last night, and she told me that Jean had texted her, saying that Scott had totally sided with Emma and told Jean off for punching her!"

"Oh my god, that's so low"

"What an asshole..."

I stand up from the drink fountain I'd been bending down at and turned around. The three girls talking were Amara, Tabitha and Jubilee.

When they caught sight of me their faces paled, and of course they wen't immediately silent.

I glared, wanting to say something. Tell them how it really was. Nothing had happened, nothing was going to happen and to shut their mouth about Emma and just keep out of other people business.

But I don't.

I just stalk past them as they look down awkwardly at their feet.

I try to think like Emma, and not care what people think of me.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o

I get through to physics class without any more blatant trash talking. At least any that I hear.

I keep getting a few looks though. People side eyeing me, Hank and Emma as we sit up the back of the class. As soon as any of us would look up, they'd just snap back to the black board.

I didn't understand how Emma could be so calm about the whole thing.

I gave her my own side eye'd look.

You could see a slight tinge of a bruise around her cheek from yesterday, but her makeup managed to cover most of it. I'd already seen her check it in her compact and re-apply her foundation at break. Bobby had asked if it hurt but she didn't seem to want to talk about it.

She hadn't mentioned anything about Jean either.

But if she was happy enough to ignore the drama, I was more than happy with that.

As we studied our text books and copied out more physics notes, like we did most classes, our teacher cleared her throat and tapped her knuckles on the blackboard.

"Before I forgot, class, I have these sheets I need to hand out to you before the end of the period" Miss. Rao said with a smile as we all looked up "Its a note from the career counsellor about your academic plans after the end of this year. We want you all to book appointments with her to talk about what you plan to do once you leave school, what kind of careers you want to go onto, and what universities and courses would be best for your future" she said as she walked around the class and handed out the sheet of paper, with contact details and appointment times on it.

"Not to mention what exams you'll have to focus on to get where you want to go in life"

I took three of the sheets as she came round and passed them down to Hank and Emma. The class broke into light chatter as we read.

Hank immediately slipped the piece of paper into his file with barely a second glance.

"Not interested, Henry?" Emma asked, absentmindedly.

"Already know what I want to do, is all. Geneticist. Or a BioChemist. Maybe both" he waved it off "Either way it's not like I'll have any trouble getting into the school of my choice. Or any"

The corners of Emma's mouth twitched "Just a tad Boastful"

"I can't boast about my looks or social standing, might as well boast about how much smarter I am than everybody else" Hank joked. Emma laughed.

"And what about you Scott? What noble profession are you going to take up?"

I shrugged, unsurely.

"Um, well...I had been thinking about, you know, engineering"

Emma raised an eyebrow "Said with such passion. Why engineering?"

I only shrug again "I dunno. Seems like a good option. I've already got the grades for it, my Dad did engineering before he went to the army...good pay, lots of jobs in the field..."

"Boring answers to justify a boring career" Emma says dismissively.

I manage to look at least a little offended "What's wrong with being an engineer?"

"Nothing darling, and call it intuition, but I can tell you don't exactly seem too interested in it yourself, and ultimately if you don't care about what you do, what's the point?"

"And how many people actually like their job? Its a job. Its meant to pay bills and put food on the table. Plus I am good with numbers and planning things and that...general business"

"You know he used to want to be in the army? When we were kids. Fly a jet like is Dad did" Hank cut over me "And then a police officer"

"Ooh, officer Summers, I love it. It suits you" Emma smiled teasingly.

"He only gave up that idea a couple years ago, too"

"And why was that?" Emma directs the question at me.

I shuffle in my seat. I don't think the answer is going to come out well.

"First off, New York's a dangerous city to be a police officer in...Mom was always a little against it because of that. And in our second year of going out...me and Jean...well we just made plans to make sure we went to university together"

Emma blinked at me, her face unreadable.

"You know, since Jean was planning on going to Yale, she wants to be a councillor, so she'd probably do a full psych course. If I did a four year engineering course it would fit in well, we'd fly out there together, won't have to live at home anymore...plus cops have to work really bad hours and don't get paid that well, and-"

Emma held up a hand to stop me rambling "So let me understand this. You basically decided your entire future and career...on the basis that you would get to stay together with your girlfriend?"

"...and all those other reasons I mentioned before, that you said were boring-"

"But mainly it's because you made some sappy love struck promise to each other when you were both sixteen and stupid?"

I glare at her a little "There's no need to be harsh"

"And there's no need to be stupid either, but here you are, being exactly that" she gives me a pointed look "Honestly, within the last minute of you talking I can tell you don't really want to be an engineer, you're just convincing yourself it's somehow the right thing to do"

"Plenty of people don't have a clear cut idea about what they want for their future..." I say calmly.

"Yes, but better to take a year off and figure it out, instead of wasting years and money on a degree you don't actually care about" Emma felt no need to speak politely "And it's all fine and dandy if Jeans happy moving across the country to her dream university, but don't just follow her like some lost puppy. Make your own decisions, the ones that are best for you"

I sniff and try not to feel annoyed.

Mostly because I felt like I'd just been lectured, but also because deep down I knew she had a point. Even if it was delivered like a sharp blow to the knee.

But I didn't really want to think about it.

"So what are you going to be then? What's your smart plan?" I say, just a little snidely.

Emma's voice is back to it's usual, cool, tone "A teacher" she says clearly, without pausing.

I let out an involuntary laugh.

"A teacher?" Hank repeats, eyebrows raised.

"Why do you look so surprised?" Emma smiles, like she knows the reactions she usually gets from saying this. Maybe this is a joke she tells a lot of people, just to see them confused.

"I dunno...I guess I can see it. I do feel like I just got told off by a strict teacher" I joke.

Hank is still pulling a face "So you're not kidding at all?" he asks, thinking along the same lines as me.

"Not one bit. I've wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl. My father wants me to do a business degree so I can work at his company, family legacy and all that, but I'll be damned if I end up living any kind of life that man has planned for me" she scoffs.

Me and Hank exchange glances.

"Mmm. Well...if that's what you want to do" Hank shrugged "But personally I always saw you as some sort of jet setting model, or the esteemed wife of a russian count or something glamorous like that" he laughed.

Emma gave him a sharp look though "A glorified clothes hanger trawling around Paris and Milan or some rich old mans trophy wife? Is that really what comes to mind when you think of me?"

Hank seemed to immediately regret what he had said "No, no, of course not. Nothing like that, no offence intended-"

"Well, offence taken. I actually have plans to base my life around a lot more than my looks, thank you very much" she said, snappishly.

"Emma, come on. You know I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry, really" Hank said, genuinely.

"Oh, don't grovel.." she said, her voice softer "Apology accepted. But you just have to imagine how often I hear people dismissing everything I am, or what I want to do, based on the stupid ideas they've already conceived about me"

Hank nodded "I imagine it must get annoying"

Emma let out a small laugh,like he had no idea.

Then I put in my two cents.

"I guess it just sounds strange at first to most people, that you'd want to be a teacher of all things when you could be something like a model, or actress or millionaires wife. Not many people have those options"

Emma is looking at me warily, like any of my next words could be cause for another lecture. I tread carefully.

"And then when you say you could also potentially become the head of Frost international, simply because of your family...I guess people wonder why you wouldn't just take such a great opportunity that's basically just being handed to you"

I look at Emma and shrug.

"And if I had to sum it up...you're just about the least mundane person I think I've ever met, and yet you want to go after the most mundane job I can think of" I smile, and surprisingly, Emma smiles back.

She seems to like this answer.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0oo0

So Thursday classes end and I still didn't actually get around to telling Jean about the date, like I was supposed too. The opportunity just didn't seem to present itself. It was actually a little worrying that I was finding it harder and harder to talk to her these days.

But still, I had the plan to go along with. So here I was at the mall with the un-mundane Emma, to go on the shopping trip that was part of her, um, our... master plan.

Me and Hank had managed to get off the hook in physics class and were no less out of her good books, thank god, so she was still aiming to help me buy a great gift, some chocolates and some flowers.

Date stuff.

Buying-your-girlfriends-affections stuff.

"Why is that all these overweight mall-crawlers wear sweat pants when they've most likely never actually exercised in their lives?"

Emma has her nose turned up as we both step up onto the escalators of the busy mall.

I try not to laugh, I'll feel mean.

"So do you have any of your own idea's for gifts?" Emma asked me

I shrugged "I was kind of thinking, maybe, a Teddy bear or something?"

Emma gave me an unimpressed look.

"...a nice Teddy Bear?...One that says 'I love you' or something when you squeeze it?"

Emma looked slightly disgusted.

"So that's a no on that idea?"

"A Teddy bear is something you win for your thirteen year old date at some tacky carnival at the shooting range. You're eighteen and so is Jean, and I won't allow you to buy something so disgustingly cute. Any other ideas?"

I open my mouth to speak.

"And do not say a gift certificate"

I shut my mouth again.

Emma rolls her eyes as we reach the top of the escalators and get off at the second floor.

"Well, I suppose we'll just go with my idea then"

I throw up my hands in submission.

"Whatever you think Is best"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Yeah, I'm not going in there" I say flatly as I start to walk away.

Emma scoffs and grabs onto my arm so I cant escape.

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Come on, were going in"

She tries to pull me with her but I resist.

"No, Emma! It's...it's inappropriate!" I say in all seriousness but she seems to think it's funny.

"It's only knickers, darling. Don't be such a prude" Emma smirks as she stood in front of the lingerie shop window, Scantily clad mannequins in frilly, fancy...things, behind her.

"Yeah, girl...knickers"

That word sounds stupid when I say it. I made myself cringe.

The mannequins are looking at us. Looking at me. They know I don't belong here.

"I really think we should re-visit the gift certificate option" I say stiffly.

Emma sighs in impatience "Lord, you're sheltered"

"No, i'm not!" I defend myself "I just don't...this isn't...Jean probably wouldn't even like it if I got her under wear...and what's wrong with a fifty dollar Barnes and Noble card?!"

"Darling, you just have to trust me. It's a great gift. Sexy lingerie just inspires passion doesn't it? At least more than a goddamn Barnes and Noble card..."

"You don't know that. Books can be passionate"

But I'm ignored.

"Imagine it, she opens her gift, marvels at how exquisite the lace on her new panties are, and then you casually suggest she slips them on for you. Voila, your night is full of wild animal sex, courtesy of moi" Emma says with a flourish

"Sshhhh, Keep your voice down" I hush at her.

"What, Why?"

"You don't just throw the word's 'panties' and...'wild animal sex' around in public!People are listening" I glance around nervously as I spot a Women who's overheard looking disapprovingly at us.

God I hate looking like a delinquent kid.

I don't even listen to my I-pod on public transport just in case I annoy other passengers.

Emma gives me a dull smile "Oh. You're so quaint"

And before I know it I've been pulled into the lingerie store.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o

"How about this one?"

I stare at the piece of thin black material, trying not to shift uncomfortably.

"...it's a G-string, Darling"

"I know what it is!" I snap at Emma as she puts it back on the display table.

"Just checking. Ooh, what about this set?"

She holds up a hanger with a pair of leopard print underwear and matching bra.

"I don't think Jean is a leopard print kind of girl..."

"Well, what type does she usually wear then? Cotton, Satin, lace? Give me something to work with" Emma says as she scans her eyes over the walls literally covered in underwear.

I shrug "I dunno, normal type ones?"

I spot a green and white spotted bra "Like...something like that I guess" .

Picking it up and checking the price makes me reel.

Eighty dollars?! How the hell does that work. I discretely put it back.

"Maybe they have a sale section?"

Emma instantly looks appalled "Scott, you can't buy a present on sale?"

I may as well have suggested wrapping up a dead bird and giving her that as a gift, like a dog.

"Alright, fine...I'm just saying, for something no one ever see's you wearing, its a lot of money"

"You'll be seeing her wear it" Emma says suggestively "So just keep that in mind while browsing. Try to think about what you'd like to see her in"

I keep this in mind as we move our way slowly around the shop. I try to stick close to Emma at all times. In my head I still feel like if I'm seen on my own in here people will get the wrong impression. Either i'm a creep, or a perv, or some kind of cross dresser.

Ok, that last ones probably a bit of a stretch. Despite my girlish hips.

While Emma was busy checking out some of the displays, my eyes fell on a pair of blue panties on a hanger right next to my face. I frown.

"These ones...they have a hole in them. Like...right in the crotch. Someone should probably tell management about that"

Emma looks at the panties. Then at me.

She smiles and puts a comforting hand on my arm.

"Oh. Scott..."

And then she walks off, still smiling.

"What? I don't get it...Emma?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

So, I've done it. I finally found a pair that seemed decent.

They were red and sexy, but not too sexy, and just a normal cut. No G-string, or V-string or...whatever strings. Plus the matching bra had a nice bit of lace at the top and the material was all..sheeny.

Wait. Satin.

Satiny.

Yeah, I totally know the right word and everything.

Twenty minutes in this store with Emma and I am an underwear pro. I barely feel awkward at all anymore.

The shop assistant walks past me and we make eye contact. I turn away quickly to look at a spot on the wall.

Ok, so I'm still a little awkward.

"So you're definitely getting those ones? Good. Do you know Jean's size?" Emma asks.

I blank.

Crap. I forgot boobs had different sizes.

My eyes almost automatically land on Emma's chest, as if I can somehow compare them with Jean's mentally as some sort of measuring guide.

Emma rolls her eyes.

"Isn't it a good thing that I guessed this would happen? Useless. Jean is a 36C"

I stare at her "How in the hell do you know that?"

Do women have some kind of sense? Can they just tell other girls breast sizes from looking? Is there some kind of formula for it?

"I rifled through her spare clothes in her gym locker yesterday. Since I knew I'd be taking you here for her present. It would be a disaster if you got the wrong size" she said casually, like it was no big deal.

"You broke into her locker?" I ask in disbelief.

"Broke into is such an ugly term...but yes. That is what I did"

I was about to argue but I was shushed.

"No harm done, darling, and really you should be thanking me. It came in handy after all. Now if you could just wait for me by the change rooms for about five seconds, because i've just spotted an adorable white bustier over there and it's just begging for me to try it on" she said with a curt smile as she hopped off to grab it off the racks.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o

I'm sitting here waiting on the designated male-dragged-along-on-a-shopping-trip chair just inside the change rooms, where there was about four different stalls covered in lush red curtains. The whole inside of the shop was designed to look like some kind of Moulin Rouge style burlesque house. All dark purple walls and red velvet seats.

They were playing some Christina Aguilera song over the intercom.

I know this because I went to see that movie she was in with Jean when it came out.

Hm, does Emma look a little bit like Christina Aguilera?

Eh, not really. Same hair colour I guess.

She's not as pretty as Emma though.

Crap, no, scratch that. I didn't think that. That was bad. Nope.

To be honest I've been trying really hard up till now not to think of Emma as anything but a good natured friend helping me buy things for my loving girlfriend.

Even if said girlfriend mentioned she didn't really want me hanging out with this good natured friend at all.

And I happened to be be in a lingerie shop with this friend.

A sexy, low lit, lingerie shop that plays Christina Aguilera music.

Dammnit.

I try to think of the most un-sexy and non suggestive things I possibly can.

My history homework.

Giving Cable his flea medicine.

That guy from the Subway commercials.

Rosie O'Donnell.

Just then the shop assistant lady ambles into the room with a smile on her face as she calls out to Emma.

"Need any help in there, dear? Is the sizing good for you?"

"Yes, I'm fine thankyo-" Emma begins to say, but before she can finish, the shop assistant had already whipped the curtain wide open, exposing Emma.

My eyes widen as Emma turns in surprise. She's in the bustier and matching bottoms...and nothing else.

I cant help but stare for a second at, well... her everything.

Her bust, her toned stomach, her hips...all the way down to her legs...

Then I realise I'm staring. Blatantly. I might have even been gaping.

I quickly snap my mouth shut and turn my head to look at the opposite wall. I was way too slow though.

How could she have not seen me staring?

"Ooh, I think your boyfriend approves" The shop lady giggled at us both.

If I wasn't bright red before, I was now.

"I'm...she's...were not-" I rambled off nervously, my words caught in my throat.

"Yes, that's always the reaction I like to get" Emma said smoothly over me, a smile on her face as she still kept that curtain wide open.

"So, does it suit me?"

I look up. She was asking me that direct question.

She looked amused, a smirk almost on her lips. She was standing so confidently, back straight, hands on hips, waiting to see my reaction...like it was funny that we'd been mistaken as a couple. Like she wanted me to play along.

I try and keep my voice steady "Yeah...yeah. Looks fine" I say stiffly.

I steal one more gracious look at her before finally ripping my eyes away again.

The shop assistant claps her hands together happily knowing she'd just made an expensive sale "Great! I'll meet you at the register then once you're done changing"

As I heard the curtain shut again I look back up, just in time for the assistant to walk by and shoot me a wink.

"Lucky boy" she joked playfully under her breath, nodding back to Emma.

I sunk down in my chair, screwed my eyes shut and thought of Rosie O'Donnel.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0

It was after dinner and I was sitting on my bed, doing not much at all on my laptop. Checking my consistently dead facebook page. Playing minesweeper. Looking up the cast list of CSI:Miami on IMDB to see if one of the actors had been in a soft drink commercial i saw the other day, because they totally looked similar The red underwear was stowed safely away under my bed, gift wrapped, along with a box of swiss chocolates, from the shopping trip.

I'd been irritable all afternoon up until now.

Hours ago, I'd been casually walking along the mall with Emma, looking for chocolate shops, then all of a sudden: boom. My mind flashed to the image of sexy, half naked Emma. The way the curtain had been drawn back, how she'd turned her head and her hair fanned over her shoulders, that slight look of surprise on her face, blue eyes wide, her pink lips parted ever so slightly...

And this image had been stuck in my head all day.

Got in the car to ride home, stop at the red light: Boom. Sexy Emma flashes across my brain.

Get home, change into my track pants: Boom. There's sexy Emma again.

Mom tells me to take out the trash: Boom.

Passing the Potato's to Gabriel at Dinner: Boom.

Watching Law and Order re-runs after dinner: Boom.

Every time I tried to force that image down in my mind, it would just spring back up again, completely un-provoked. It was relentlessly engrained in my mind.

And as I flopped back onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling, a horrible realisation dawned on me.

Emma was really sexually attractive.

And this is the point where I can practically feel you yell "No shit" at me, but let me explain you a thing.

Guys who are in a relationship are allowed to have female friends.

Wait for it, I'm getting there, I have a point.

So, yeah, guys in relationships are allowed to have female friends, but they need to disregard any kind of idea or suggestion that their female friend is in anyway a sexual being.

That female friend has to be A-sexual. Like an amoeba, or a piece of coral.

You can appreciate them for their brains, or their sense of humor, or the fact that they like all the same weird obscure movies as you, or you share a passion for model trains, or whatever the hell butters your biscuits, I don't care...

...But in no way can you start to realise that they have a fully working vagina and a goddamn beautiful face.

Because that's dangerous territory.

All of a sudden you start thinking things. Imaging things. It gets awkward. You have a the shame. Cue the guilt.

And until now I'd been doing such a great job. I was vaguely aware that Emma was attractive but I still managed to suppress those thought, Push them down, forget you had them the second after they occur in the back parts of your dirty mind.

But then that goddamn shop assistant had to pull back the damn curtain.

Boom: there she was again.

I close my eyes and groan.

I wanted to just forget about Emma and her un-mundaneness and her lovely british accent and her perfect boobs.

"So who was that hot chick that came over the other day?"

"Alex, don't come in my room" I open my eyes with a grimace, not even bothering to look up at him as he stepped in.

One day...one day, I will have locks on my doors and it will be a glorious day.

Of course Alex ignored me and took a seat on my desk chair, rolling across the wood floors.

"No but seriously. She was hot. Why was she hanging out with you?"

I look up at him, annoyed.

"Can't you go bug Gabriel?"

"I could, but he doesn't know any hot chicks"

"You're with Lorna" I sighed, irritated.

"So? I'm not asking because I'm interested in her. I'm asking because it's weird. Was she forced to be you'r study partner?" Alex kicked my leg with his foot. I closed my laptop

"She's just my friend"

"Called?"

"Emma"

"How'd you meet?"

"She's in some of my classes"

"What did you do when she came over?"

"Watched a movie..."

"And I heard Mom mention you went to the mall after school today, was it with her?"

"...yes" I say, getting more and more annoyed.

"What did you do together?"

"Shopped"

Alex looked me up and down very seriously, leaning forward in the chair.

" ...are you her new gay BFF?"

I roll over off the bed to stand up and forcibly pull him up from my chair.

"Hey, hey! Easy, kidding, KIDDING!" he yells as he struggles against me as I move him towards the door, dragging him by the back of his hoodie.

"I just thought it was weird, are you even still with Jean? She hasn't even been over lately" Alex tired to explain himself through gritted teeth as he grabbed onto my door frame as I tried pushing him out "Even though you're a fucking dork and all and that girl was a total ten out of ten , I just thought that they're might've been a slight, 1%, chance that maybe you were boning her, thats all I was really gonna ask, I know you're not queer man!"

"Get out of my room!" I yell as I prise off his hands and successfully slam the door on him.

I hear him kick hard against the door before stomping down the hall "DRAMA QUEEN!" he yells back at me.

I hate little brothers.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I'm sitting eating my sandwich at our usual table in the cafeteria, with Hank sitting across from me.

"So I think I really like Abigail" he says suddenly, out of nowhere.

I look up "That green haired chick?"

He nods.

"Oh cool. So...do you think she likes you back?" I ask

Hank shrugs "I think so. At least more than Jean likes you"

I frown "What? What do you mean by that?"

All of a sudden Kitty appears next to me.

"You know what he means" she says, a purple lizard sitting on her shoulder "Jean totally hates you. Just face it. It's starting to get pathetic"

The lizard nods up and down in agreement.

Then I feel something collide with my head. A mac and cheese box.

"Scott" a gruff voice calls.

I look across the now empty cafeteria , where I see cable. One of his dog eyes glowing as he speaks to me.

"You have to come with me. I'm from the future. We need to correct the past. Follow me if you want to save the world"

"But what's the point...Jean doesn't love me anymore" I mutter.

All of a sudden were in a plane. Im at the controls.

"Quick, there he is, shoot him!" Cable says, strapped into the seat next to me.

Up ahead out of the window I see Warren. He's flying in front of the plane, with huge metal wings.

All I have to do is blink in his direction and a red blast of light shoots from my eyes.

I do it again and again, but each time he dodges me, zigzagging across in the sky. He's escaping.

"Full throttle, engines at maximum capacity!" I yell as I press buttons on the dashboard and continue to fire my eye blasts.

Then theres a loud siren sound. A high pitched emergency warning.

"We have to evacuate, the planes going down!" I yell as I grab Cable and make a run for the back of the plane, grabbing a jet pack.

We jump out just as the plane explodes into a massive fire ball, and we fall through the air.

"Scott!" I hear my name called again. I look to my left.

"Emma! Are you ok?"

Emma is free falling through the air next to me as we hurtle towards the ground. Cable isn't in my arms anymore. I don't have the jet pack anymore either.

"I'm fine!" she yells back "Just make sure you land on the soft cushions, darling!"

I look down in time to land with a thud on a bed. A large, luxurious bed, surrounded by candles.

"Such a fucking dork.." I hear someone scoff.

Alex is standing in the doorway, smirking.

"I told you to get out of my room, Alex!" I yell angrily as I throw one of the pillows at him. He disappears laughing.

"Be careful, don't hurt the pillows! I only rented them"

I turn around as I hear Jean's voice. She's sitting on the bed, wearing the red satin underwear.

I move towards her and were kissing. A deep long kiss.

"But I thought you hated me, Kitty said-" I say as I draw back, but I stop as I see a flash of blonde hair.

Pearl blonde hair.

I'm not kissing Jean anymore, I'm kissing Emma. She's still wearing the same underwear.

She smiles lazily at me as she runs her hands over my chest.

"So, does it suit me?"

"Yes" I say without hesitating.

She leans in even closer to me and whispers in my ear.

"You be Scott...and I'll be Jean"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

My eyes snap open.

Cable gives off a little whine at the end of my bed from where he's sleeping, his tail flicking against my leg as he takes up too much space.

I rub at my eyes as I roll over to check my alarm clock.

It's 3AM

Letting out a sigh, I grab my other pillow and throw it over my face.

Fuck my dreams are weird.

Goddamn subconscious.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for the feedback last chapter! : ) Hope you like this one too

Friday lunch time in the cafeteria. I got myself a red bull, the second one I've had today. I hardly ever drink the stuff and it tastes awful but I need the energy. I kept myself up all night fter that dream, and now I was running on about four hours sleep. I could feel my eyes drooping as I stared at my half eaten sandwich.

"So, Emma, I was wondering if you could help me with a girl problem" Hank says as I rub at my eyes.

"Mm?" Emma says, as permission for him to continue.

"It's Abigail, and it's not so much of problem and more something along the lines...that I think I might like her"

My eyes suddenly snap open. I stare at Hank. My head whips around the cafeteria.

Oh god, am I still dreaming? Is this one of those time when you dream you stopped dreaming but then turns out you're still in the dream? Were their layers? Were Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page going to jump out any second and tell me we needed to go deeper?

"Scott, what are you doing?" Emma asks as I turn back around in my chair.

"I'm...looking for my dog" I blurt out without thinking.

I get the look you'd expect she'd give me.

"I...never mind" I say, looking back down at my sandwich and having another sip of red bull.

Bobby, Hank and Emma exchange glances, but keep talking regardless.

"So...you gonna ask her out?You totally should" Bobby said.

"Bobby, I was asking Emma for a female perspective on how to handle this, not your own dubious 'expertise' when it comes to girls. I mean really, 'just ask her out' like it's that simple, what kind of advice is that?"

Emma shrugged "Well, I agree with Bobby"

They both looked at her.

"You do?" Bobby seemed as surprised as Hank.

"You do?...really?"

She nodded "There's no scientific approach to this, no secret formula for gauging if a girl likes you back-"

Hank instantly looked disappointed as he heard this.

"-You just have to take the risk and ask her out. If she says yes, well then you know"

It was obvious to all of us that Hank looked extremely uncomfortable with this idea.

"Or-" Emma continued before he could even argue "-Take the slightly less brave route of asking her out on a group date. That way, if she doesn't seem interested, you can just play it off as a casual get together with friends. It's a safety net"

Hank seemed to take this on board "I...like that idea actually. You'd all be willing? You'd come along with me?"

"Of course man, Scott could bring Jean, I could bring a girl maybe, Emma could bring...probably any guy from the male student population" he shrugged.

"I think this is the best idea I have available to me, so...why not. I'll ask her, see what she says" then he frowned "What exactly is the best location for a group date? The movies?...bowling?"

"You can ask her, see if she has any ideas. You have time to think about" but Emma pulled a bit of a face "But please, don't let it be bowling. Me and used shoes don't mix"

"Speaking of dates" Bobby took over the conversation, looking directly at me "Did you tell Jean about the one you're meant to be going on tomorrow?"

I blank.

"Oh, crap" I mumble.

There's a chorus of groans around the table.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0

I race through the halls with my backpack flying over my shoulder and people dodging out of my way.

There's only five more minutes of lunch left and I need to find Jean. Her and her friends weren't in the cafeteria at their usual table so that meant they were probably sitting outside on the bleachers, their other favourite spot. I guess they decided to take advantage of the one sunny afternoon we've had this past week.

I'm not out of breath by the time I reach outside but I feel a slight stitch in my side as I slow my pace, walking up to the bleachers.

I give a small wave and Jean spots me. She hops down and finishes walking over to me, rather than me coming all the way to them. Good, I don't have to say anything in front of her friends.

"Hey" she speaks first "What's up?"

"Nothing...much" My words come out a little breathless and she smiles.

"Did you run here?"

"Um, yeah, I wanted to ask you something"

"Mmmmm kay?" she looks slightly worried, so I hurry it up.

"I wanted to ask you out on a date"

She laughs "Scott we've been dating for, like, a few years now"

I smile "Yeah, but you know...it's been ages since we've been on a proper date night. We barely get to see each other lately"

She nods and I think she likes the idea "Yeah, I know, sorry 'bout it...but yeah, I think a date night would be good"

Success!

Then she frowns "Wait, did you say tomorrow? Like, tomorrow night?"

"Yeah?...is that ok?"

She winces, looking apologetic. Oh come on, don't tell me she made plans.

"I have plans..."

Crap.

"Me and all the rest of the cheer girls are going out to a Tae Kwan Do night class at seven" she shrugged "We already payed for it and everything"

I stare at her.

"...a Tae Kwan Do night class?" I repeat.

She can't hide a small smile "Yeah, Logan suggested it, he's actually the teacher there on saturdays. He does it for extra cash since he's like a black belt and everything-"

"Who's Logan?" I ask, clueless.

"Oh. Mr. Howlett"

I stare at her even harder.

"...and you call him Logan?"

"Yeah, it's his name"

"Yeah, I guessed" I said a little forcefully "Since when do you call a teacher by his first name?"

"Look, the date's a good idea but I just can't, you know? Unless you could change it to the afternoon?"

"But I booked a restaurant..." I trailed off, realising I sounded a little pathetic and...whiny.

"Oh, you did?" she says with a pitying look "I am so sorry Scott. You should've told me earlier that you had this planned"

I'm actually kicking myself that I didn't do that.

"It's no big deal, if the afternoon's all you can do, I'll take it" I manage a smile and Jean smiles too.

"Thank you! And again, totally sorry" she says as she gives me a quick hug, just as the bell rings.

"I got you a present too" I say as she pulls away.

"Ooh, exciting. Looking forward too it" she starts heading back to the bleachers to grab her bag as everyone drifts back towards the school "Should I meet you at your place at one?" she calls back.

"Sounds good" I wave.

Ok. So the plans have been changed, no romantic candle lit-dinner... but hey, work with what you get, right? Plus she seemed into it at least. Stay positive, Summers. This is just a small hiccup, this is gonna go great. Saturday afternoon, here we come.

O0o0o0o0oo00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo

This

Date

Is going.

Horribly.

It was now four pm, so let me catch you up so far.

Jean had arrived slightly earlier than one, so I hadn't had time to ferry my Dad and Brothers out the house yet. Thank god Mom was on a shift at the hospital, and Dad had promised to go out and run errands to give us privacy, but Gabriel and Alex had been more difficult. I was in the middle of bribing them out with twenty bucks each when she rang the doorbell.

Alex had obviously decided that the opportunity to create havok is my life was worth more than twenty bucks.

Within ten minutes of her walking in the front door, he brought up Emma.

The little shit.

Mentioned how she'd been over, putting on his mock innocent voice, like it was something to just casually drop into a conversation. I saw Jean give me a quick look, but she didn't take it any further. Then anyway. I should have guessed i'd be paying for it later.

I decided we needed to get out of the house as fast as possible.

We got in my car with no clear idea of where we were actually going to go. A fancy romantic lunch? It didn't have much of a ring to it...and it's not like I knew any nearby restaurants off the top of my head.

Jean suggested the nearby I. .

I personally imagined taking herself somewhere more impressive, but hey, ladies choice.

I.H.O.P was packed. A baby at the table next to us was crying. The guy who served us looked like a convicted felon.

And as light conversation, Jean brought up the Emma thing.

In my head I imagined we'd be talking fondly over the first date we ever went on, not the reasonings as to why I had secretly had another girl over in my house without telling her.

God dammit Alex.

It wasn't exactly an argument, and I won't go in to too much detail because it was almost the exact same conversation we' had about Emma before. All you have to know is, after we decided to drop it, things were still tense.

Jean changed the subject and talked about this class she was doing later, excited about learning all the moves from Logan. Then about something Betsy had said the other day, then about this guy Ororo was seeing called T'challa. Then I talked about Hank and Abigail and the group date, and a bit about some random assignment I had due on wednesday.

It was like we could talk about anything but us.

And I know she felt it. This felt weird. Things had been feeling weird between us for awhile I guess, at least to me, but now it was like we couldn't deny it anymore. I guess the Warren thing was hanging over my head, and now the Emma thing was hanging over hers.

Then there was that moment an older guy walked past jean and wolf whistled at her right in front of me .I also managed to spill a bit of my milkshake down my top. And when the cashier said 'Hello' to me I said 'good thank you'.

We ended up driving home in an unbearable silence.

I don't even think we were particularly angry at each other, we just...didn't seem to have anything to say.

And that's it, now you've been caught up on this date so far. I am currently in the drivers seat as Jean stares down at her phone.

"You can probably just drop me back at my place, if that's ok" Jean says.

It sounded so casual but it was like a blow to the gut.

"Um, I still have the present I was gonna give you. Back at mine"

"Oh, ok" she smiles a little stiffly "Sorry, I forgot about that"

When we reach my place, the doors locked, meaning Alex and Gabriel must have gone out after all. Funny, now I kind of wish they were here.

I fumble for my keys and we go in.

"It's just up in my room" I say as I head up the stairs, and she follows, still texting. I hope she's not tweeting about how horribly this is going.

Cables sleeping on my bed and he looks up as we enter. His tail wags as he see's Jean and she smiles.

"Hey, boy" she says, dropping her phone on the covers and patting him behind the ears "Missed me?"

He sniffed and licked at her hands excitedly and she laughed "Aw, he must smell Rachel on me"

Rachel was her little ginger Tabby cat. Yeah, I don't know why she gave her a people name either.

"How is Rachel anyway? I think I still have the claw marks on my hand from last time I came over" I try and joke. I didn't think Rachel liked me very much, but Jean said she bit people out of love...

"She's alright" she says, taking a seat on the bed. As soon as she's down, Cable tried to shift himself on to her lap "Ok boy, some day you're gonna need to learn that you are not a dog that is designed for laps" she laughed, almost squashed under the huge ball of fur.

I smile as I grab the present boxes out from under my bed.

Good going Cable, getting her back in a good mood after I screwed this whole date up. What a wing man.

I hand her the boxes and she smiled. I can still save this.

She unwraps the ribbon and opens the first one, the tray full of chocolates.

"Aw, they're fancy ones" she says, immediately grabbing a white chocolate one covered in dark sprinkles, popping it in her mouth. Cable sniffs at the box but she bats him away "Not for you silly"

She grabs the other one and unwraps it just as carefully "These ribbons are really nice, I should keep them, use them as hair ribbons-" she said absentmindedly, but the second she lifted the lid and saw the underwear her voice stopped.

She stared at them. Her face was unreadable for a second. Then she laughs real lightly.

"Really? Oh my god Scott...really?" but that last part has an edge to it.

I instantly want to rip the box back, pretend I never bought it and whip out a Barnes and Noble gift card instead.

But yeah, obviously I can't do that, so I just stammer for words as Jean stares at me, unimpressed.

"I thought, well...you don't like them then?"

"No" she says bluntly "I mean...it's just so...so blatant!"

"Blatant?" I frown.

"Oh, yeah, play innocent, because you totally didn't just buy me these because you wanted to get laid, right?" she glares, not even trying to hide her anger.

"Jean, come on, their just a gift!" I try and defend myself.

"Yeah, sure, a gift that's really personal and something I totally wanted and would mean a lot to me" she shot back sarcastically.

"God, don't be like that..."I mutter.

"Like what! Offended that this entire date idea of yours was just so you could give me some slutty underwear at the end of it in the hopes I'd have sex with you?"

"Is that so bad!" I blurt out, my voice rising.

"So you admit it!"

"We're boyfriend and girlfriend, were supposed to have sex!"

Jean scoffs "Oh, really? Is that my duty to you, to just have sex with you when you want it? Do I owe that to you?"

I feel myself getting angry too "Of course not! Is that what I said?"

"It pretty much is, actually!"

"Well, don't you think we should do it maybe, I don't know, at least every other month" I throw my hands up.

"I've been busy! Other things are in my life right now, besides you. You're dick doesn't take precedence over practises, and my friends and studying to get into a top tier college!"

Were both pretty much shouting by this point.

"This is what you do, you make excuses, like you don't even want to do it. Hell you don't even seem to want to spend time with me in general"

"Oh, like you can talk! You never hang out with me and my friends, you just hang around with Hank and Bobby and your new best friend Emma -"

"Because your friends hate me!" I interrupt her.

She rolls her eyes "Oh my god,Scott, that is such shit, you just think that in your head. I don't even know where you get that from. This is like a new level of hypocrisy, considering you hang out with Emma even though she hates me-"

"Oh, great, bring up Emma again, it was so nice when you do back at lunch" I mutter back "I thought you said you didn't care if I hung out with Emma"

"I don't!"

"Well, you sure act like you do! And what about all the time you spend with Warren Worthington?"

Jean frowns "Excuse me?What the hell has Warren got to do with anything?! He's just my friend"

"And Emma's just my friend"

"At least I don't complain about you hanging out with him every chance I get" I say, childishly.

Jean breathes deeply "Urgh, this is so like you. I only find out you even have an issue with Warren two seconds ago, since you just keep everything to yourself and just expect me to know what your problem is! How was I supposed to know you wanted to have sex more, you never brought it up! I thought everything was fine! I'm not a fucking mind reader Scott!"

you know that part of an argument, when the person you're arguing with had a valid point, but your just too angry to admit it or stop yelling? This was that part.

"This was me bringing it up! This whole date was me trying, Jean, but it's like you don't even care!"

Jean pushes the box and chocolates down on the floor as she stands up "This was your way of brining it up? Slutty under wear!? Gee great communicating Scott. God, you're so passive-aggressive, it's so frustrating..."

I wanted to scream. I was frustrated. I wanted to scream about that night at the party and what kitty had told me. That I knew Jean was hiding something from me. She liked to guilt me over the whole thing with Emma when underneath it all there was someone else she liked in her life too.

But I didn't.

Maybe I was passive-aggressive.

I just stood there, arms crossed, looking at a spot on the wall.

"Thanks for the pancakes. Keep the underwear" Jean says quickly as she stood up and left.

If this wasn't such a horrible moment, that sentence would make me laugh.

Cable stares at me with a 'Good going idiot' look on his face.

Which is strange to see on a dog.

We hear Jean thunder down the stairs and slam the door as she leaves.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Oh my god, so are you two going to break up? I feel like i'm in the twilight zone right now. This doesn't feel real" Bobby said and I could hear the disbelief in his voice

I managed about two hours of wandering around my house, not knowing what to do with myself, before I called Bobby. This felt like a huge deal. I needed to assemble the brain-trust.

Well, Hank wasn't answering his phone and I didn't want to talk about Jean with Emma.

So Bobby would have to do as my brain-trust for now

"And by the way, how weird is it to actually have a landline phone conversation right now? This is so nineties. I feel like were on an episode of Saved by the Bell and theres a cut screen of the both of us with a neon squiggly line through the middle-"

"Bobby focus"

"Yeah. Ok. Sorry. But for real though, do you think this'll just blow over by monday?"

I sighed "It's wierd...we've had little fights over stuff before, but this was different. It just felt bigger. More serious"

"Like that time when you'd only been dating for a couple of months and Jean was mad at you for forgetting you had a movie date or something right before she went away on vacation with her family, and you thought that meant she'd broken up with you, so you ended up asking that Madelyne girl to the schools halloween dance and then Jean came back a few days later and it was hella awkward?"

I wish Bobby could see me side-eye him through the phone.

"Ok, firstly, we agreed to forget that ever happened, and secondly, everyone laughed it off in the end and it was hardly a big deal. This is so much more differant"

"That and she looked pretty much identical to Jean anyway so it was kind of funny-"

"Bobby"

"Focused! Sorry. Yeah, continue"

"I feel like this fight...I dunno. It wasn't just over the gifts, you know? It was like there was all this other stuff underneath that as well"

"...like?"

I'm not going to bring up the Emma thing. Im self aware enough to know that it'll paint me in a bad light.

I'm also self aware enough to know that I'm going to tell him about the Jean and Warren thing because maybe I wan't to play the sympathy card a little bit.

Just a little tiny bit.

Bobby gives an appropriate gasp "Noooo way! Jean's hooking up with Warren?!"

"Well, I don't have, like, definitive prove" I mumble out quickly "BUT Kitty herself told me she liked someone else, and you've seen how much he just hangs off of her and all the times you see them in the halls together at school. She pays more attention to him than me these days anyway" I argue.

"Mhhm, mhmm...and Kitty wasn't specific at all about who it was?"

"Who else could it be? Practically all her other friends are girls"

"Ah-"

"She's not a lesbian Bobby" I cut him off flatly.

"Its a possibility!"

"No it's not" I have to rub at my temples.

"I dunno, Ororo always seemed like she could be a 'friend of ellen' you know what I mean. Remember that mohawk phase she had-"

"Bobby, I'm hanging up"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0

Ok now it's been another hour since my call with Bobby and I'm still restless. I'd go for a jog but half-way out the door Mom called me back saying dinner was going to be ready soon.

I'd slumped back upstairs and flopped on my bed, where I was currently, listening to my I-pod.

As I listened to the third depressing Coldplay song in a row, Alex came into my room.

I didn't even have the effort to tell him to get out. I didn't even say hi.

"I'm just coming up to tell you that there was only one more mini-tub of Ben and Jerry's left in the freezer but I called it, so you can't have it" he said.

I grunted, flipping through my playlists.

What was more depressing to listen to than Coldplay? Ah yes, the Fray. Perfect.

I feel Alex staring at me.

"...are you in one of your angsty Scott moods again?" he says with a sour look on his face.

Silence is my answer.

"Well, I don't care, that peanut brittle ice-cream is mine"

Alex goes to leave again but I see him do a double take before he's out the door.

"Wait, what the fuck. Why is there underwear on the floor?" he stares wide eyed at the red satin bane's of my existence where they'd been thrown on the floor, since I hadn't bothered to pick them up.

I'm honestly not even bothered to explain.

I shrug "You wan't em, you can have em" I mumble.

Alex stares at me. Then at the underwear. Then back to me.

"You're such a freak" he mumbles. Then he seems to double take again "Wait, are they Jeans? Holy shit why did she leave them here, and more pressingly, why are you being such a moody asshole if your girlfriend came over wearing frickin' victorias secret?"

I muster the effort to glare at him before looking forlornly out the window.

"Yeah well, I don't think she's going to be my girlfriend anymore" I say, a tad dramatically.

Ok, really dramatically. I'm milking it.

"Riiiiiight" Alex says, awkwardly "Um...so like...did you guys break up or...?"

"No. Maybe. I dunno. We had a fight"

Alex nods solemnly "Cool"

I glare at him.

"I mean, not cool. Sorry man, I don't know what to say right now"

I give him that.

"Yeah, don't worry. You don't need to be all...brotherly...with me"

We both cringe at the word brotherly.

He steps on over to the red bra, crouching down and picking it up gingerly.

"So what are you going to do with these? Hey, they still have the tags on"

"Yeah, they were a present. She didn't like him" I run a hand through my hair, suddenly feeling really tired "I'll probably just return them, get the money back"

My mind drifts to dreading entering the lingerie shop again. Maybe I could ask Emma to return them. Heh, yeah right. Like Emma's the kind of girl you call up to do your errands. I could just imagine the look she'd give me.

The next thing out of Alex's mouth snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Hey, since when did you get an I-phone? Did Mom and Dad get you this? What the fuck, I wan't an I-phone"

"They didn't get me an I-phone, idiot" Frowning, I look over at him where he's crouched down at the side of my bed. The Bra is still in one hand, but the others holding a model four I-phone.

I grab it out of his hand and see that the lock screen is a picture of Rachel curled up asleep on a Hello kitty pillow.

"It's Jean's phone" I mumble out loud.

"Oh, it was just under the bed"

"Must've fallen down there"

"No shit, you should be a detective or something"

"Shut up"

A second later we heard Mom call up to us that dinner was ready.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0

When Monday rolled around it was raining again.

Bobby and Hank showed up at my door, as usual, to walk to school.

As I closed the front door behind me and sat down on the porch to slip on my shoes, there was a weird tension in the air.

Bobby and Hank were suspiciously silent. Bobby should be talking about some hot girl he saw down at best buy or something, and Hank should be asking what points I covered in my political studies test notes.

I look up at them and they give me the smiles you reserve for people who's pets have just died.

"How ya' doin' buddy?"

God, Bobby sounds like some kind of camp counsellor.

"Ah, yes, Bobby told me about the...um...hrmph...murrmble hrmph..." Hank mumbles out towards the end looking uncomfortable.

"Guys...I'm fine. Really. Just...stop being weird about it, ok?"

I'm not, but, whatever. They were up to speed with what had happened. There was no new information to report. That was the end of the matter for me.

They seem to listen, and Bobby goes on to talk about some weird guest that was on x-factor last night.

Until Hank brought up his news.

"So, I hate to mention this right after hearing about your news, Scott, but...I guess I have a 'date' with Abigail this friday night" he said, deceptively calm, hiding a small grin.

I think he liked the looks on our faces, as me and Bobby practically broke our necks whipping around to look at him.

"What! Really? Well, look at you man" Bobby grins proudly "So the group date idea worked?"

"Not exactly, I didn't get a chance to use it. We were just talking and she mentioned that her friends, who were in a band, were playing at some bar across town, and she was trying to get more people to come and support them...so in the end, she invited me. Said I could invite some friends too, more the merrier I guess" he shrugged "I don't know if it count's as a 'date' but still, she asked me "

"Pimp" Bobby nodded.

"Ah...yes"

As usual, I'm the one to step in and burst the bubble "But were not twenty one...how are we gonna get into a bar?"

Hank waved me off "I asked the same thing but apparently this place never cards anyone. Abigail's not twenty one either and she says she's been lots of times"

I frown a little "That seems a little sketchy. Is this place a dive bar? And you said it was across town?"

Hank doesn't answer my questions "She says your friend Tandy is going, and that she's been there lots too"

"And she's a recovering drug addict" I add, my frown not moving. Sorry Tandy, but it's true.

"Can't you just be happy that this is happening? I'm sure there won't be trouble" Hank sounds impatient with me "And I really want you to come with us"

"Because you need someone to drive you across town and you can't tell your Mom you're going to a dive bar with a bunch of college kids to see a band and try to hook up with a green haired girl?"

Hank doesn't answer. This means yes.

Bobby sighs "Oh come on Scott, don't be like that man. You used to be cool"

"That's a lie and you know it" I say flatly.

"Ok, well, be cool now then"

"And she already managed to get me the free tickets to get in" Hank added.

"Yeah, man, free tickets"

"She could only manage to get me four , so that'll get us in and...well, the fourth one was meant for Jean so you could bring her..." Hank trailed off.

There was an awkward silence and I swear they were both glancing at me like they were worried I was going to burst into tears at the mention of her name.

"You could still ask her if she wanted to come...a peace offering. Who wants to bet she's not even mad anymore?" Hank tried to laugh.

I gave a kind of stuff smile in return "Mm, yeah, maybe..."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0

I went into first period Maths dreading seeing Jean. The class where I'm outnumbered by her friends six to one.

No doubt they'd heard her version of the story already.

Honestly, nothing scares me like a girl posse. Nothing.

As soon as I stepped in the door, I could feel their heads just whip around in one collective motion to stare coldly at me.

Jean was the beloved angel and I was the perverted freak that had taken her to a dodgy Ihop and given her underwear while hanging around with their decidedly arch-nemesis Emma.

I'm sure of they had their way they would've greeted me with my own burning effigy hung up above my desk.

As I slunk past them to my seat, while acting like their was something really fascinating to look at out the window so I didn't have to make eye-contact, I noticed Jean actually wasn't there with them.

Wasn't like her to be late. I kept my head down in my work book but had an ear out for her arriving.

By the time the bell rang she still hadn't shown up, and as the teacher called the roll, Betsy explained that she was absent today.

Without even meaning too, I think I breathed a sigh of relief.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0

"So, I was wondering-"

Bobby's voice came out of nowhere beside me, making me jump and slam my locker door in surprise.

"Jeesus, Bobby" I gasp "Don't sneak up on people like that"

"I wasn't sneaking, you were just busy staring mindlessly into your locker. Why, is something in there?"

"Nothings in my locker, I wasn't 'staring' at anything, I just-ah whatever- what did you want?" I sling my backpack over my shoulder as we both start heading down the crowded halls to our next classes.

"Yeah, right, So I was wondering...since you probably won't be taking Jean to the band thing, could I have her ticket? Since she doesn't need it"

"Why do you need another ticket?"

Bobby stares blankly at me "Oh, you know, just in case I lose one" he says sarcastically "It's so I can invite a date, man"

"A date" I frown "Who?"

"A girl"

"Yeah, no shit. Who?"

"Kitty Pryde"

I laugh before thinking "Kitty Pryde?!"

Bobby slaps me hard on the arm "Keep your voice down, ok" he looked cautiously around the halls, like Kitty herself might have been standing behind us "I haven't even asked her yet"

"Since when do you even talk to Kitty" I smile and frown at the same time. This is kind of funny.

"I've been talking to her a whole lot actually" he says pointedly "Like at that party where I looked after her-"

"She was passed out"

"Only for half the time! And then later when I asked how lockheed was doing-"

"Who's lockheed? What kind of name is Lockheed?"

"Her pet lizard...and guys with dogs named Cable shouldn't throw stones. Anyway, she said I was sweet and then I added her on facebook that night. We chat like, every other night now...and she's in my Bio class"

I smile at Bobby. This was really funny. He was trying really hard to sound serious about this right now.

"Are you laughing?"

"No, no"

I kind of was, but not in a mean way. More in a 'imagining bobby lying on his bed with a diary, writing about that super awesome moment in bio when she totally looked at me' kind of way.

"It's cool, you can have the ticket" I nod and Bobby looks a little surprised.

"Really? Just like that, did you even ask Jean yet?"

"She's not in today, but whatever, she'll probably say no anyway so you take it. Ask Kitty"

Bobby still looked a little sceptical "Ok man, I'm just checking since i'm not giving it back again. You sure you're not gonna try and ask Jean?"

"No. Plus, a college band concert in a seedy old bar? Not really her thing anyway, she probably wouldn't have wanted to come even if we weren't fighting" I try and joke "Plus, might as well try and let a new relationship start while ours crashes and burns"

Bobby looks at me with raised eyebrows.

Well.

That was a little dark.

"Um, yeah, anyway...I have Bio now sooo, gonna ask her" Bobby says quickly, before heading off down one of the passing halls.

"Yeah, good luck" I call after him.

Oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

One thing I didn't think about when I brought Jean's phone in today, was just how many text messages she gets per hour. That or facebook notifications, or stuff from twitter and...other things I didn't know much about.

I hadn't taken much notice of them, besides getting annoyed every time the small 'ping' noise vibrated through my bags front pocket. The phone was locked though, so I couldn't get into the settings to turn off the damn noise every time a message came through. I just had to put up with it.

Right now, I was trying to focus on my history textbook as I sat in free period. Luckily, the teacher was out of the room and everyone was busy chatting, so I didn't have a horde of annoyed people telling me to switch it off.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

I noticed Emma glance at me, a small frown on her face as she hovered her pen over her notes.

"Can you turn that off?" she asks, icily. She might not be a Horde, but she was definitely annoyed.

"Not exactly" I started, apologetically, but then I froze as a familiar song suddenly stated playing from my bag.

'We are the cartoon heroes, oh oh oh, we are the ones who're gonna last for-e-ver-'

Emma looks at me.

'We came out of a crazy mind, oh oh oh, and walked out on a piece of paper-'

The class turns silent. They're all looking at me.

Why did Jean have to have a fucking Aqua song as her ringtone.

'Oh, here come's spider-man, arachnophobian-'

It's torture to wait for the song to cut off and go to voicebox, but everyone just laughed it off and went back to their business while I sat there, looking at Emma's smirk.

"That's not your phone, is it?" she looks close to laughing.

"It's Jean's. She left it at my house and I haven't had a chance to give it back yet"

"Oh, you left that part out of your de-briefing earlier" She said, looking interested.

I had filled her in on what happened at the start of the lesson, after she asked how much Jean liked the underwear...

"Give it here then" she all but ordered, hand outstretched.

"Why?" I asked, even as I took the phone out to hand to her anyway "It's locked"

"I can hack it" Emma said, nonplussed as she tapped at the phone with manicured nails.

I scoff "You can hack it?" I said doubtfully.

"Please, it's an apple product, not a piece of Stark Tech"

I just watched, unable to see what she was doing on the screen as she tapped, but it only took her about a minute before she smiled and held it up triumphantly, unlocked.

"How in the hell did you do that" I say, impressed.

"Well, I had a bit of a thing with Howard Stark's son back at my old school. I picked up a few tricks" she smirked, turning back to the phone.

"So you're gonna turn off the alarm settings, and the volume?"

"You know you could have actually done that without hacking into it" she smirks, as she taps at the volume switch on the side.

Now I feel stupid.

"Well, I've never used an I-phone before...and hey, if you don't need to hack into it, what are you doing now?" I ask quickly, noticing Emma scrolling.

"Mm, reading her messages, darling" she says, completely non-plussed, eyes focused on the screen.

"What! You can't go through her messages, that's a complete invasion of privacy and-" I start up indignantly but she cuts me off in a bored tone.

"Don't you want to read the messages between her and warren? Or her and Kitty even"

I stare hard at her, then the phone.

"Yes. Yes I do"

I scrape my chair over closer so I can peer over her shoulder.

As soon as were in the inbox I see a tonne of messages from her friends, basically asking why she isn't replying to any of their texts...my bad. There's also a lot of missed calls.

"Who was trying to call her so much? Warren?" I ask, narrowed eyes.

Emma clicks on the call history. They're...pretty much all from Jean's home phone number. She must have tried to call her own phone to try find it...my bad again. Ok, back to messages.

Scrolling through her messages, we don't see a single one from Warren. Betsy' Rogue, Kitty and Ororo's names show up a lot first. Alison and Theresa's once or twice. Then one from her dentist, and a few in a row from her Mom, and a couple others I just glanced over.

"Ok, I'm going to check Kitty's some more, I bet she still knows more than she lets on" Emma scoffs, but something caught my eye.

"Oh, anon number, anon number!"

"On it" Emma clicks the name and the I-phone conversation history opens up.

My mind freezes as I see the winky face emoticon before anything else.

Oh god the winky emoticon.

The most sensual of all the emoticons.

We scroll up to see the start of the convo from this mystery sleaze anon: 'hey are you coming tomorrow night? '

Jean's reply: 'yeah, so excited! : )

Me and Emma exchange glances as we read.

"Oh my god" I mutter "That's a date, right? She just planned a date with this guy"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, you don't even know if this is a guy she's messaging-"

"But why is this the only number in her phone thats anonymous? Hm? As well as the fact that we couldn't see a single message from Warren at all!"

I know it's Warren, it just has to be. It's my gut instinct...or paranoid suspicion, but whatever, I'm probably completely right anyway.

I watch as Emma silently clicks back to Jean's contact list and scrolls down. No Warren anywhere under W.

"See?!" I press. Suspicious!

"Mmm" Emma seemed to agree a little "It is a little suspect. And if this message was sent on a, lets see...ah, friday, then she must be talking about meeting this person on..last saturday night"

"What? I snap suddenly "But I hung out with her that afternoon...she said she couldn't hang out with me that night for our date because she had some, I dunno...cheer practise Tae Kwon Do lessons"

Emma raises an eyebrow "Cheerleader Tae Kwon Do lessons?"

"Cheerleader Tae Kwon Do lessons!" I repeat a little more hysterically, realising just how dumb it sounded now.

"Ok, well that sounds fake as hell" Emma looks like she wants to laugh "She definitely had something planned for saturday night, but I bet that wasn't it"

"Lets read the rest, I need to read the rest!"

I end up actually taking the phone from Emma's hands. She lets me. I might be coming across as a little less composed than I was trying to be right now.

Next message from Jean: 'hope my moves are gonna be good enough for you haha'

What moves? In what context does she mean moves, is moves a sex thing!?

Anon sleaze bag/a.k.a. Warren: ''Well I'll tell you know I won't be going easy on you, even though I know you don't have much experience. It'll be a work out girl'

Jean: 'hahaha who says I haven't had experience? I'm up for some rough and tumble just you wait haha ; )'

Oh my god, it is a sex thing!

"Oh my god, I think this is a sex thing" Emma repeats like she's read my mind.

I make a bit of a dying whale noise involuntarily as I slump down on the table.

"Oh my god...rough and tumble...rough and tumble means sex" I mutter darkly.

"Well, in an utterly crude and stupid sounding way, but yes. Pretty sure it means sex" Emma nods grimly. I lie my head on the desk for a second feeling blank before I feel a slight patting on my arm.

"...Emma? Why are you patting me?"

Emma immediately takes her hand back "Comfort, support, I don't know!" she flusters, annoyed "I don't do this whole...sympathy thing very well...but I am good at revenge. Should I pay some freshmen to break into her locker and spray red paint on everything? Because that I can handle"

I run my hands over my face, sighing, before smiling a little, even though I was torn between throwing the phone out the window or punching the desk as the same time.

"No, don't do that"

"Are you sure? Just say the word and it can be arranged in a matter of hours"

"Yes, I'm very sure" I pick up the phone again to keep reading but thats where the convo ended, obviously since Jean didn't have her phone anymore.

I just sat there in silence, beyond mad.

Ok, yes, maybe my present was a bad idea, maybe It was a bit of a crappy date, maybe I was spending time with someone she didn't like, but Jean had all these secrets of her own and obviously this was more than me just being paranoid, there was something real going on.

"Hey, is that Jean's phone?"

Me and Emma look up suddenly, caught in the act as Tabitha stares us down, and I instantly drop the phone on the table away from us.

"No" I say instantly, then wince because that's a terrible lie "I mean...yeah"

Tabitha frowns and glances between us "She said she lost it on facebook last night, why do you guys have it? Did you steal it? What the fuck"

She was on the attack pretty fast...but then again, she had been one of the girls i'd caught gossiping the other day. The ones who thought me and Emma were a thing.

Pfft, as if, right? Wow, the imaginations some people have hahaha ha haha...ha.

"Jean just left it at my house the other day, I brought it today to give it back" I say defensively.

"She's not here today" Tabby said sharply.

"I know that" I smile stiffly "I'll wait till tomorrow then"

"I can take it now and give it to her after school"

"...and so could I" I argue...even though technically I really don't want to go visit Jean, and I hadn't planned on it, but frankly she was annoying me and I just wanted to argue.

"Ok, no offence-" Tabby says with a look that clearly means offence "-But I don't think she really wants to see you right now"

I frown. It might be true, but what does she know about it?

"If you have something to say just say it" Emma snaps impatiently.

"I wasn't talking to you, slut" Tabby says sharply out of nowhere to Emma.

A few people from neighbouring tables turn around in surprise. I stare wide eyed between the both of them.

I think Emma looked momentarily surprised at being talked too like that. Then her face turned into a look of what I can only describe as an quiet, seething, fury.

"Ex-cuse me? I don't think I even know your name you little inbred bitc-" Emma begins to hiss, but I actually pull her up by the arm on instinct, grabbing my own bag at the same time.

I know for a fact Tabitha has gotten into a couple of fights before, no doubt since she obviously has no trouble calling people sluts to their face, and Emma still has her bruise from Jean the other week.

"Come on lets go" I say quickly, as everyone watches us.

Emma still looks furious but I think she see's reason, hoisting her own bag over her shoulder as we quickly head to the door, twenty minutes still left of class but no one stops us. They'll tell the teacher when she gets back no doubt, but it's not like this will end well if we stay.

"Check facebook maybe. Just an idea!" Tabby yells sarcastically back at us before the door closes.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Who even was she?! I've never even said a word to her in my life! Who is she to even speak to me!" Emma's marching down the empty corridors with me, her angry paces just about overtaking me even though my legs were about a foot longer than hers.

"Who does she think she is even getting involved in something she knows nothing about. Honestly, these rumours going around...you'd think people have better things to do with their lives than intrude on ours" she huffs.

"So, ah, you've heard what...what people have kind of been saying?" I say cautiously.

"What? That were sneaking around together? Please. If I had a dollar for every time someone muttered slut under their breath around me I could buy myself a new Chanel clutch"

I hadn't thought about it much, but if I'd heard people talking about us then chances were Emma had overheard some people too. I wonder what Emma thinks about it.

"And little do they know, Jean's the one texting some mystery man about rough and tumbling" Emma laughs humorously.

"Hm, and what do you think she meant about that facebook thing? You think Jean posted something?" I wonder out loud, a little worried. I should really check my facebook more often.

But if I looked worried, that was nothing to how Emma suddenly looked.

"Oh my god, do you think she has?" she snaps quickly "What is it, we need to check. Right now, get your phone out-oh shit, no, you don't have an I-phone do you. Wheres mine, wait no, I don't have her on facebook. Is her account on private? Scott, do you know?"

I was completely taken a back as she stared at me with fearful eyes. This was a very...un-emma-ish reaction. Her usually calm voice had a frantic edge too it.

"Emma, calm down, I'm sure it's nothing that bad. She probably just, I don't know, said some shit about me in a status or posted some depressing song lyrics or...maybe changed her relationship status to it's complicated, something stupid like that!"

Emma seems to blink and look embarrassed all of a sudden "Yes. Yes of course that would be it, wouldn't it. God, sorry, I just...I was calm though, honestly, I'm just...I'm just worked up over that stupid blonde girl, whatever her name was"

As Emma instantly tried reverted back to her usual demeanour, something clicked.

I remembered talking to Tandy at work, who said something about Emma's time at her last school. Something about facebook, and peoples comments and a video being posted...and how it had all somehow ended in her being expelled.

I remembered another time Emma's calmness faltered, when she saw Tandy herself at Theresa's party.

All in all this just raised more questions, but it did remind me that Emma had something to hide of her own. Something she obviously did not want getting out.

"Emma, is everything ok?" I frown.

She avoids my gaze "Oh god, Scott, don't. I'm fine, really. I was being stupid"

We walk in silence and our pace is slower. Emma seemed a lot calmer now, the frown leaving her face, but now i'd say she even looked a little...sad? In a sub-dued way. I think that was how most of Emma's emotions came across though. Her eyes were cast down onto the floor.

"We should leave, don't you think? Just have the rest of the day off?" she said after awhile.

"Ditch class?" I smile "I've only ever done that when I'm sick"

"Well, I am sick. Sick of all these dull common idiots I'm forced to share a classroom with. I think we deserve a half day off"

"...yeah, why not" I shrug, and we start heading for the stairs.

"You want me to drop you home? My place isn't far, we'll walk there and then I can drive you" I offer.

Emma paused "Actually... do you think I could hang around at your's for a while?"

"Um, sure" I say, a little surprised "There's not much to do there though"

"I don't mind" she says quickly as we reach the first floor.

Something is really off about her mood, and it's almost like I forget about my own things for awhile and start worrying about hers.

"Ok Emma" I start "You might think you're a good liar, but you're not that good. Somethings wrong. There has to be more than just Tabby being bitch that's making you act this way and want to ditch school all of a sudden"

She doesn't even turn around as we walk. For a second I wonder if she heard me.

It feels like an age before she actually says something.

"My ….family has been a bit worse than usual lately" she says, in a quiet, almost unrecognisable voice. It sounded...soft. There wasn't any sarcasm or sharp tone at all, and maybe I imagined it, but I think maybe her accent slipped a little bit? I don't know, that probably wasn't it.

What do I say? Do I ask her more about it? Do I stay silent?...should I hug her? No, probably not.

It takes me a good minute before I work up the nerve to reach out my hand.

I pat her on the shoulder. A series of small little pats.

Emma turns and stares at me, bemused, before she gets what i'm doing, and she see's my smile.

"Oh god, you idiot" She laughs, shaking her head.

"Sorry, I don't do this whole sympathy thing very well" I smirk as she shoves me off her, both of us heading off the school grounds.


	9. The wreck room

"Your DVD collection is...interesting" Emma said flatly, kneeling in front of the old wooden TV unit.

"Yeah, I think my Dad owns just about every crappy B-rated space movie made in the sixties and seventies"

"Looks that way. And every season box set of Greys Anatomy"

"Mom's"

"Aaaand fast and furious two, three and five, Ice age, Ice road truckers, dumb and dumber ...and Ace Ventura: Pet detective"

"My brothers"

"Of course, because you wouldn't own such bad movies?"

"Ace Ventura: Pet detective isn't a bad movie"

"And the rest of them?"

"...Ice Age was pretty good when we were ten"

She keeps scanning over the DVD's for anything decent as I head to he kitchen.

"You want a drink of anything?" I call out.

"Lightly sparkling water with lemon, if you have it"

"Uh...we've got tap"

There was a brief pause.

"Taps fine"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

We ended up choosing Ace Ventura: Pet detective, since I found out Emma hadn't actually seen it.

It was nice to take advantage of having the house to ourselves, sprawled out on the sofas. A respectful distance apart of course. I mentally measured it. About...roughly thirty centimeters between us. Yeah, that was fine. Totally appropriate. If someone busted in right now and saw us sitting, feet up, watching a movie home alone together it wouldn't be, like...they wouldn't get the wrong idea I mean.

Well, they shouldn't.

I wouldn't think so.

A little way into the movie I noticed emma wasn't laughing. Which wasn't exactly weird for her, but still, it's Ace Ventura: pet detective. You've got to laugh sometimes. She barely touched her tap water either. Maybe I should have seen if we had a lemon to put in it.

"What?" Emma asks suddenly.

"Uh?" I say, smoothly.

"You keep looking at me"

"Oh, do I?" I say, fully knowing that, yeah, I totally kept looking at her "I dunno. Worried you don't like the movie since you're not really laughing"

"Maybe that's just because its not particularly funny"

"That's impossible, its Ace Ventura: Pet detective. Of course it's funny"

"It's actually not that funny"

"You're not funny"

"That was mature" she smirks.

"I'm pretty sure I could take you to court for the trial of ….not finding things funny that are actually funny"

"..."

"I'm not very good at jokes"

"I can tell" and she smiled, breathing out a little, just enough to make the smallest noise as the corner of her mouth twitched upwards.

"There, I made you laugh!"

She scoffs "That wasn't a laugh"

"Yeah it was, it counts"

"No it doesn't"

"I'll have to take that up with the jury on my 'not finding things funny' court case"

"Oh my god, if anything I'm laughing at just how un-funny you are"

"...you did just admit you laughed though"

She slaps me on the shoulder and now I'm laughing.

"I should be a lawyer"

"You should be quiet and watch the movie"

I do as she says, only because I keep peering at her to see if she's still pursing her lips like she's trying to hold in a laugh. Which she is.

We settle in to silence and keep watching. I fold my arms and sink down into the sofa, and Emma ended up slipping off her shoes and tucking her feet under her legs. The conversation before might've broke the mood a little bit, but there was still a sullenness to her. She kept on picking at the skin of her lip with manicured nails, eyes looking at the screen but not really watching it.

It's another twenty minutes until I work up the nerve to try asking if she was ok again.

Time to just take the blunt approach.

"Is the thing with Jean and Tabby bothering you?"

Emma sneered "Who's Tabby?"

"The girl who called you a slut"

"That doesn't really narrow it down"

"The one who said it this morning"

"Oh. Her. With the tacky eyeshadow"

There was a pause. I was going to have to keep the ball rolling.

"So...you're not bothered at all about...what everyones saying?"

Emma shifted slightly so she was facing me more directly "Hardly. They're not worth my time, and they're not worth your time, so what's the point even talking about them?"

I shrug "Well, you did kind of act a little...I dunno. You just kind of freaked out when you heard Jean had put something on facebook? What was that all about?"

There it was. That tiny little flinch. Only the smallest indicator, the slightest change in expression.

"Look, that's...that's different. It's about something else entirely" she sniffed.

Then silence again. It was like pulling teeth.

"And...is that something a something you can tell me about, or?" I probe gently, knowing I'm tip toeing on a thin line right now. She could just snap shut and not say a word if I don't play this right.

"...why would you want to know?" she says, sounding defensive.

"Because it's obviously bothering you"

"And I'm obviously going to feel better by unloading all my problems onto you?"

"It might help"

"I doubt it. You're not a therapist. You won't get paid to hear me whine"

"Talking about what happened to you isn't whining, especially when I wan't to hear about it" I try and explain gently, but I get another snappish rebuttal.

"And how do I know your just not being nosy then?"

"What?" I frown, actually offended.

"Maybe as soon as I tell you you'll run off to Jean and all her little friends and have a good gossip and a laugh-"

I cut her off right there.

"Oh, come on, Emma, that's not fair. You can't say that, especially since right now the both of us are getting gossiped about by those people"

"She's still your girlfriend and your friends"

"Yes and no. Jean's my girlfriend, but Bobby and Hank are my friends. You're my friend. Why would I go and run and tell anything to them? Look, I'm in the same boat as you right now, and I'm not exactly having the best time of my life either, and I'm just asking if your ok. That's all I'm trying to do right now" I realize I'd raised my voice a little bit, just from frustration

I notice Emma's not looking at me anymore, she's glancing down at the frayed edges of our old sofa cushions. She starts pulling at one of the loose threads a little.

"Look, I just...if you don't want to talk about it, fine. I won't ask again. But I don't see the harm in it. I don't know what you think will happen if you talk about your problems, I'm not gonna judge your or anything, or think your weaker or...whatever it is your worried about. Just...opening up is good sometimes, you know?"

"Says the poster boy for emotional repression"

"Says the 'I'm going to cover my thinly veiled issues and insecurities with sarcasm' Miss 2014 pageant winner of the year'"

She threw a pillow at me.

"...You know...I'm not good at...this-" she gestures absentmindedly between us with her hands "-This...This whole thing"

"What whole thing?"

"Oh, you know, This!" she snaps, only gesturing more wildly "This whole...being...open and ...close to people. Talking about things. I have a hard enough time telling people my preference in music, let alone discussing feelings"

It's not a funny situation but I almost laugh.

I don't think I've actually realized how similar me and Emma really are until right now.

"Ok. Story time, I guess" Emma says ,running her hands across her temples and down her face, as if mentally preparing herself, before letting out a low sigh.

"So at my old school, I had a ….well, I say the word friend, but she wasn't so much a friend as she was the embodiment of pure sociopathic evil wearing Prada slingbacks"

I don't know what a Prada slingback is but it sounds sinister.

"Her name was Selene, and I suppose we hung out together because we were both in the same social circle, were both good looking with good taste, and we had a kind of mutual enjoyment out of making people fear us. Might as well do it together"

She turns to give me a slightly concerned look.

"And I suppose I have to mention the other... 'key player' I guess that's a good word for him. Sebastian. Mr. Shaw. He wasn't quite a teacher, he was on the school board of directors, mostly because his family actually owned the building that had been converted into the school, and about everyone one of his past relatives for god knows how many generations has attended Massachusetts Academy. He was very old money. He also happened to know my family, just through that whole pretentious society scene. That's why he first started talking to me, taking an interest, he knew my father. Anyway, I guess this is where it all gets a little...sordid"

I want to ask, but keep my mouth shut. She was going to tell me anyway.

"I'll spare you the details but...well, a semi...sort of...relationship formed"

"With your teacher?!" my eyes widen.

"With one of the directors of the school board!" She said, like it was somehow more dignified "And you said no judging!"

I hold up my hands "Yes, yeah I did, sorry. No judging"

"...well...I guess I can't actually blame you for judging. I look back on it now and don't know what I was thinking. He was older. Hell, he was old in general. But he gave me attention...paid for things...he was important, and I guess being wanted by him made me feel important- and oh god, sorry, I said I wouldn't go into details. Right, back on track. Back to Selene"

At this point I remember back to when I first had the thought that Emma's expulsion was in some way dramatic, and how I'd quickly blown all that off as stupid and unlikely.

And now I was hearing this.

I mean if sneaking around with one of the board of directors doesn't get at least someone fired or expelled, what will?

"I actually don't even remember what I'd done to make Selene actively hate me. Maybe I'd taken our 'banter' a bit too far one day, or worn a dress she'd planned on buying for herself. Honestly it was probably something stupid. And then we were just sworn enemies. It honestly started so small and petty, trading insults and glaring at each other in the hallway. I started a rumor that she'd gotten crabs on her family vacation to the Hamptons, and she'd told everyone I gave Jason Wynegarde a handjob in the school's projector room. The usual stuff"

Emma took a slightly longer pause than normal.

"It all just kind of..blew out of control when she got this tape"

"Tape?" My eyebrows raise "Like...as in a-"

"Well, I don't like to call it a sex tape. It wasn't a full blown Paris Hilton, in a hotel room, dark-light camera, kind of tape. But there was definite...pants were definitely unbuttoned at some point, and you can definitely tell it's me, and you can definitely tell who's office it was"

For a second I just kind of blinked. This really was not the kind of thing I had expected to hear.

"So, uh...this Selene girl filmed you secretly or..?"

"Oh, no. No, Shaw liked to film us himself" Emma said, with no shame "Got off on it. Always made sure to keep his face mostly out of focus though. At least on the ones he didn't delete later. A smart move, in hindsight"

"So she just found this tape?"

"I don't know. I really don't know how she got her hands on it, but she did. I've run my mind over it a thousand times, because it's not above her to go snooping around his office or wherever he would've kept the damn things, but...you know with all the computer security I knew Shaw had, and how careful he was, sometimes I think maybe he even gave them to her...for whatever reason. Maybe she fooled around with him too, who knows? Maybe we were both idiots he was playing with, but either way, I was the only one who got caught out. She uploaded the videos to facebook"

Well, no wonder Emma didn't have an account anymore.

"Everyone saw it. Everyone and their mother, and their best friend, and their dog. She sent it out on people's phones too, her entire contact list...my sisters,and ultimatly, my Father. It was...it was all a mess from there. As you can imagine"

"So, thats why you were expelled? Did the guy get fired?"

"...I was asked to leave. And no. Nothing happened to Shaw. Anyone with a working brain could watch that tape and see that it was his office, in his chair,...but you could never see his face, not clearly. The board argued that it could have been anyone"

"What did it matter what the board said, why didn't you take this to the police? I mean, this has to be breaking some kind of law, old board directors can't go around having sex and filming students-"

Emma cut me off "Men with enough money and connections can get away with a lot more than you can imagine"

"What about your parents! Weren't they angry or...or...did they go to the press or try and sue them or something?"

"Well...when my Mother found out she muttered 'oh, dear' and had to have an extra couple of scotches that night, and my Father, after yelling himself hoarse for a few hours, told me he didn't think he'd raised a whore, and I told him I didn't think he'd be surprised by me after having already raised my sister, Adrienne. Then Adrienne slapped me, I ran out, turned up at my gay brothers apartment at two am, stayed there for three days until my Father eventually came to fetch me, and then he informed I was going to have to change schools, since I was ending the grand tradition of the Frost's attending Massachusetts academy, because I'd brought embarrassment upon the family name with my shameful behaviour. And yes, those we're his words. He's a touch melodramatic "

She finished her story with a clap of her hands, like she was closing a book.

"Oh, and Selene got detention I think, made to attend a seminar on bullying or something benign like that. Right. That's that then. Any questions? Because I don't really want to discuss it again"

I watched her, stunned, as Emma sipped her tap water.

I tried to think of what to say. Of what would be appropriate.

"Um..that is...really shitty"

Nailed it.

Emma just smiled like she found it vaguely funny "It's ok, I wouldn't know what to say to that story either"

I try and fumble for words "Yeah, it's definitely not got a kind of stock standard reply. When someone gets dumped you can just say "plenty of fish in the sea"...or if someone dies "I'm sorry for your loss". This...It's a bit more...I don't know actually. I don't wanna say 'I'm sorry' because ,personally, that just annoys me. When people do thst its like, what are apologisingfor? You didn't do anything, and I don't want to seem like I'm pitying you or anything. So yeah. All I can think of is 'that sucks' because it does. It's a shitty thing that happened to you. And we don't need to talk about it more if you don't want to, not just because I don't know what to say, but it's like...its out there. I know it happened. It's not like it changed my opinion of you at all...I don't think it matters" I realize I've been making vague hand gestures as I try and awkwardly string this speech together. I quickly put them down.

Emma seemed to observe my face for a second. I tried to look as sincere as possible.

"That was actually a pretty decent answer. Really, if you'd felt the need to discuss my feeling and emotions any further, I would have probably thrown myself out the window"

"It's only the first storey"

"It still would have been a scene if I flung myself through the glass"

"True"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

Later, after Emma went home, I ended up checking facebook. I'd actually forgotten about it for most of the day, only thinking about it after dinner.

The alleged dramatic status of Jean read: 'Urgh, boys...not bothered anymore.."

And she'd tagged it with -Feeling frustrated-.

So, nothing to really worry about at all.

Wait, no...that was a little to worry about. For me anyway, but Emma had nothing to worry about, and it was a lot tamer than it could have been.

I mean, hey, people might not even think it was me.

…..

Ok, no, that's stupid. Of course people would know she's talking about me.

Then there was another status about how she lost her phone. Plus a whole lot of her friends asking if she was alright and leaving lots of 'xoxoxox's and sympathy emoticons, and then joking that boys sucked and they should all just become lesbians.

I think I'd prefer it if she was a lesbian. Better than her getting off with Warren Worthington the Third, even if he did have a very Ellen Degeneres hair cut. And he wore a vest to school once. He didn't pull it off like Ellen did though.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0

Tuesday rolled around and Jean still wasn't back at school. Word had begun to spread again though, about our fight and what had happened. I could assume Jean had told Betsy and/or other assorted girls and it had just seeped through the school from there. Plus Jean had about half the school on her facebook friends list so I'm sure that status didn't help.

And of course, with the news of our huge fight, the rumors about me and Emma had gone up ten fold.

"Just heard a new one" Bobby said as a way of announcing himself as he joined us at the lunch table "Apparently, you asked Jean to strip down for you, and put on some demeaning slutty underwear, while she danced for you, and when she refused, you told her Emma had done it for you before, so she should too"

I pulled a face "God, they make me sound like some kind of Mafia brothel owner"

"Yeah, they give you a lot of credit, assuming you got Emma to sleep with you" Hank nodded in apology to Emma "I mean that as a compliment"

"I took it as one"

"So does everyone think you and Scott are a thing?" Bobby turned to ask Emma.

"Everyone who reads the graffiti in the girls second floor toilets does" she said.

"And since you two did storm out of free period together yesterday, holding hands, not to be seen again all day" Hank added, a little snidely.

"We weren't holding hands, I just grabbed Emma's arm because I thought she was going to pounce on Tabby and claw out her eyes"

"I would've ripped out her cheap hair extensions too" Emma said casually, munching a celery stick.

Hank shrugged "Well, I heard the version where you were holding hands"

Bobby laughed "Oh, yeah, that reminds me of another one I heard in Bio class. They said Jean's off school because she cut her wrists after walking in and seeing you banging Emma in the janitors supply closet"

"Ok, now they're just getting ridiculous. This happened on a saturday! I don't have a Janitors closet in my own house!" I said.

"Mm" Emma agreed "And who does it in Janitors closets anymore?Please, This isn't middle school"

We stare at Emma as she grabs for another celery stick.

"...What?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Wednesday was when Jean came back.

Our first conversation after about three days went about as well as you'd expect.

"I, uh, have your phone"

"Yeah, Tabby told me"

"It's run out of charge now by the way, sorry" I handed it back to her and she smiled stiffly.

"Thanks"

We just kind of stand there outside Jean's locker as people drift by us, waiting for the first bell to ring.

"Soo...are you still pretty mad?" I try and start things off. I don't know what I'm starting, but I have to start something.

Jean opens her mouth to say something but quickly shuts it again, then takes a ragged breath, like shes all of a sudden really tired "Ok...ok, ok, ok...before anything, I'm just going to say sorry. I've cooled down, my heads clearer and I've thought about it, and I realize that I may have over reacted to the gift...thing. But I am still, well I'm not...it still bothers me but we won't go into it here. Just...I'm sorry for yelling and storming off"

I nod "Ok, thanks. I'm sorry about the gift then. I didn't...maybe it was stupid, but I didn't do it to offend you or any-"

"It wasn't that it offended me, the underwear wasn't bad, it's just why you would- ok, no, I said we won't go into it. Moving on"

"Ok"

"Ok. What I really wanted to say, because I've obviously been, like, thinking things over the last couple days, is that I haven't really been feeling myself lately"

I frown but she shushes me before I can reply.

"Please, just let me get this out. I've been moodier, school works slipping, I'm stressed about college applications, and just...a whole lot of other stuff, and I'm just feeling...a little overwhelmed, I guess, and it's affecting the way I'm being around people and that includes you and I am sorry about it"

She looks more uncomfortable then ever now. Her voice isn't raised at all. She seems meek even.

"It's like some days I just want to stay home all day, and not bother with people, and it's not because of the people, it's because of me,.Like I totally recognize that it's me, and I don't completely know why, it's just like this thing that comes over me, and I can't...I'm not functioning right"

It all starts tumbling out and I'm just staring, not knowing how to take it. Did I see this coming at all? I saw the freak out after the date, obviously, but the rest of this? All this stress and worry...did I not notice it because she hid it well, or was I not paying enough attention?

"But I don't want to be this way, I don't know where this is coming from, and then on top of all this I start hating myself for it, and I want to go back to old Jean who wasn't always stressed and upset over stupid shit at the end of the day, but I don't know how and-"

I try and interrupt and put my hand on her arm, but she flinches away when I do.

We both notice that very obvious reaction, but I think we both want to ignore it.

"I'm...I don't know what to say. This is...do you think you're depressed? Is that what this is?"

Jean just gives this little shrug like she doesn't want to answer "...I don't know. I don't know what to call this. I don't even know how to describe it that well. I don't think I'm doing a very good job right now"

"You have been kind of distant recently...from me at least"

Jean nods sadly "Yeah"

"Did you maybe want to talk to the school counselor or anything?"

"I have actually"

"Oh"

"She wasn't much help though. She gave me a leaflet on how to cope with exam stress, which was slightly relevant but not...well, it's not going to solve anything"

I try not to sound too bothered "You could have told me"

"Yeah, but...I don't know. I feel like all this has been creeping up on me for months, but I've just hid it and not told anyone, and it's just built up and up and now it's all bursting out at once, but I feel like people won't believe me, because I've just gone about smiling and trying to act completely normal and If I'd told you this...even as I'm saying it now...it just seems to out of nowhere. Like I'm making it up"

I notice her voice crack slightly, and her eyes watering, and then shes crying. I put my arms around her. God knows I'm not much of a hugger but it's better than anything I could probably say. She doesn't flinch away this time, but she doesn't exactly relax in my arms either.

This was really not how I expected this conversation to go.

People are walking past but I ignore them looking. They probably think i've made her cry, or at least that's what everyone will be saying by lunch time. Whatever, I don't care. I feel like a printer who's paper tray just jammed. I don't know to process this. I've just kind of stalled. There's probably a flashing error code on my forehead right now.

The fact that I just summed up my current state of being by likening myself to a piece of office equipment probably says a lot.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"-And then she said ' Please don't hate me, but It's just theres a lot of other stuff going on right now"

"After you asked if you were still together?"

"Yeah"

"Hm"

"I know! What does that even mean?"

It was Thursday, and the printer was still jammed. I decided to talk to Hank about it.

"I just can't see Jean as...how did she describe herself again?"

"Stuff along the lines of 'emotionally detached' and 'distant' and I suggested she was depressed and I dunno, she kind of shrugged at that, so I don't know what that means either. She might be"

"And you still haven't talked about the texts, or the whole thing with Emma which has rapidly been spiraling out of control? Because these have become big issues as well" Hank asks, his best 'educated in the department of human relationships and emotions' voice. He even had his hand resting under his chin, staring at me intently.

Hank didn't really discuss your problems with you like you were casually chatting over a lunch table, it was more like he was studying you for a thesis.

"Oh, gee, yeah, I brought Emma up in between my girlfriend admitting all her psychological issues and emotional baggage, it wen't down really well, Hank"

"Emma's sarcasm's started to rub off on you more"

I give him a look.

"Right now I don't even know if I have a girlfriend and a relationship to even save, so maybe I'll get through that issue first and work my way up" I say flatly.

"So did you actually say she was breaking up with you?"

"No"

"So what did she say?"

"She needs space, and she loves me, but she needs to work on herself right now"

"And that's it?"

"That's it"

Hank pondered for a minute "Well...it doesn't seem too bad"

"Really? Because to me it seems really bad"

Hank pulls a face "Well, that's just looking on the bad side, but then again, that's you, so"

"What?" I frown "Where did that come from?"

"Oh come on, you do. This past two months you've been moping about this Jean thing, even more so recently, but you still haven't done anything about it-"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Talk to her properly!"

"I just told you, it's not exactly good timing to bring all that shit up with her-"

"I'm not talking about just now, this is in general. For example, If you'd just asked her about those texts you found on her phone, instead of jumping to wild conclusions-"

"They're not wild conclusions-" I begin to argue, but Hank cuts me off.

"There's no hard proof it was Warren"

"Yeah, but-"

"Guilty until proven innocent. And besides, you of all people shouldn't want to accuse anyone of cheating, since half the problem is people saying the same things about you and Emma. Again, that's something you could clear up if you just talked"

"But Jean doesn't want to talk right now, I've already said that"

"But she probably will eventually, and when that happens you're going to need to talk back" he said slowly, like he was explaining all this to a little kid.

"Last time I checked, I was the one who wanted to try talk to her first-"

"Yes, but not just to ask her if 'everything's cool' so you can go on like before. You need to talk about how you both feel, your emotions, where your both at in this relationship-"

"Ok, sure thing, Dr. Phil"

"Take me seriously. You have a very 'Scott' way of trying to solve emotional problems by just ignoring them and stamping down emotions in the back of your head to let them fester without ever letting people know somethings wrong"

I scoff "I don't do tha-"

"Have you tried asking her anything about her friendship with Warren?"

"No"

"Or about how it annoyed you that she had Warren drive her home from Kitty's party?"

"Not exactly"

"What about the fact that you were hanging out with Emma without telling her, was because she was out helping you buy her a present? Don't you think that detail would be nice to mention?"

"Yeah..well"

"And maybe if you just asked about the texts you saw, there'd be a perfectly reasonable explanation. You don't know. I think you just both need to clear a lot of things up"

I start getting defensive "I don't need to clear up anything, I haven't done anything. Emma's just my friend"

"Really?"

I stop and Stare at Hank as he gives me a poignant look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

In typical Hank fashion he just waves it off and stares down to scratch at the back of his hand.

"I'm just asking. You two have gotten close in a very short amount of time, and she is attractive.." he trails off as I start to splutter.

"What? No she isn't. She isn't that attractive. I'm not attracted to her. Maybe some guys would be, but not me. Why would you even suggest that? Were not even close. Not close at all. I'm just a guy...and she a girl, and we're friends. It happens. It doesn't have to be weird. God, Hank, no need to be sexist about it, I mean come one, girls and guys can be friends without people buying into the whole 'oh my god he's into her' notion, it's just...stupid and pathetic and people just jump to these conclusions like that and just..no. Not at all. Pfft"

Hank stares at me over his reading glasses.

I should probably shut myself up but I can't stop.

"And really it's kind of annoying to see you buy into all the stupid rumors that are going around, especially when were both your friends and I would think you're above that" I say a little icily.

"Oh, don't get annoyed at me, I was just asking" He repeats.

"Yeah, well, you got your answer"

"Yeah, I think I did.."

"Don't say it like that!"

"I'm not saying anything like anything, your just taking it like it's something"

It takes me a second to unravel that sentence "Yeah...well...whatever, let's just drop it"

"Ok"

"Ok then"

Theres a tense silence.

I don't like it.

I don't think Hank does either.

There's a kind of un-spoken apology between us as we shift in our chairs.

We've never really fought before. Was this classed as a fight? It kind of felt disturbingly like one. The last time we got so heated over something it was about when I accidentally spoiled the season finale of Breaking Bad before he'd seen it.

This felt like a bit of a bigger deal.

0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It's after school on friday and I'm waiting outside on the school steps with Emma, since her driver was late.

"Doing anything tonight?" I ask.

"Hm, not really. Homework. Watching whatever tragic reality TV shows are on Bravo .Trying to avoid contact with family members at all cost. The usual. You?"

"I've got that thing with Hank and Bobby I told you about, and Kitty too now I guess"

"Oh, the college band in the seedy bar you're all supposed to be able to get into?" she wrinkles her nose like she could already smell the stale beer and weed smell.

"Yeah" I'm almost grimacing myself "But Hank's going to be hanging out with Abigail the whole night. Same for Bobby with Kitty. I'm gonna be such a fifth wheel"

"Don't go then"

"I'm the designated driver"

"Oh god, you really do have it rough tonight"

"I know. I wanted to be there for Hank because I know he likes this girl, but after that weirdness yesterday... I dunno. He still seemed off about something in History" I let out a groan "He said himself that I always look on the bad side, and I'm trying not to do that, but right now all I can think about is how this night is going to suck"

Emma let's out a long resigned sigh "Ok then. I'm coming with you"

"Hm?"

"You've twisted my arm. Plucked at the one weak, under developed, heart string I have and gained my sympathy. I'll go see this shitty band and drink watered down beer served in dirty glasses just so you won't have to stand in a dark corner all alone hating your life"

I smile "And people say you're not sweet"

"I know, I'm a saint. When are you picking me up?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"WHO'S READY TO ROCK THE CAZBA TONI-oh, hey Emma, I didn't know you were coming" Bobby said in honest surprise, as he had just yelled inadvertently in her face as he'd leant down to the open front door window.

"Last minute arrangements" she said as he opened the back door for Kitty, an unexpected gentlemanly move, coming from him. Hank was still at his front door, his Mom tugging on the collar of his shirt as he said goodbye. They'd all met up at his house to save time.

"Hi" Kitty said, scooting over to the far seat as Bobby followed her in.

"No fair, you're the smallest, you should go in the middle"

Kitty stuck out her tongue "I call window seat shot gun" she giggled.

"Really? I didn't hear you"

"Well, I just said it then, and that counts"

Bobby tutted "You got me there"

They both giggled together and me and Emma exchanged side eyed glances from the front.

In that moment I was so glad she had come along.

Hank managed to pull away from his Mom and get in the car.

"Emma?" he said immediately, even before a hello "What- you're coming with us?"

"Yes, hope you don't mind"

"No. No, of course not"

He gives me a look but I pretend I don't see it.

"But, uh, I don't have another ticket, I only got them for the four of us"

She waved him off "Darling, the heels I have on right now are probably worth more than this entire car we're all sitting in. I think I can afford the entrance fee to a down town college hang out"

I see Kitty give a little sneer as I looked in the rear view mirror, But Hank just nodded

"Well, as long you don't mind"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was 8pm, and we all stood on the cold, wet pavement in front of what we thought had to be the bar. We'd parked just across the road in the parking lot behind a small vietnamese restaurant and an alley way. In between a 24 hour laundromat and an adult book store with blacked out windows, was a small door with a sign above it.

"The wreck room" I read out loud, turning to Hank "This is the place?"

He nodded almost solemnly "This is the place..."

We all stared down the narrow stair case that led straight down and turned the corner so we couldn't see any further. They were painted black.

"Are you sure this is a bar? It looks like it might be part of the adult book store" Kitty said doubtfully.

"Yes, it is giving off a bit of a sex dungeon vibe" Emma didn't sound as anxious as Kitty, but she didn't look keen on going down there either.

"No, I'm sure this is it. Abigail said it was only small on the outside"

We could hear the faint chatter and low thrum of music hovering from downstairs, all of using looking at Hank

"Feel free to lead the way then " Bobby stepped back and gestured into the sex dungeon.

We all followed Hank one by one down the narrow stairs. I could hear Emma's shoes clacking behind me, and I turned just to see her stumble slightly on the aged wood. The shoes that cost more than my car were very, very high.

"Steady" I say, giving her my arm to hold as she came down "You know if this does turn out to be sex dungeon, you're not going to be able to run away very fast in those"

"Yes, but stilettos do make very good weapons in the right hands"

Luckily after another turned corner we ended up in a small bare room with a coat check, a bouncer and a couple other people getting their ID's checked.

We all simultaneously fix Hank with a cold stare.

They were checking ID's. He looks beyond sheepish right now.

"Uh, good evening, gentlemen" Hank starts, taking out the tickets from his jacket pocket. the pasty guy with a gelled up red mohawk and lip piercing looking up from his cash register and the bouncer with a spider web tattooed across his bald head looked at him with expressionless faces "We're here to see the band perform"

He looks us over, unimpressed "...you and your friends got ID?"

Hank paused "...you have my word"

"No ID, no entry"

Bobby groaned as Hank fumbled around, trying to concoct some story about losing them, plus frantically grabbing his phone to text Abigail before the bouncer potentially kicked us out, but Emma quickly stepped up to the cashiers booth.

"We are on the list!" she said grandly.

Mohawk guy blinked.

"...what list? we don't have a list"

Emma stared coldly at him before turning back to us "Worth a shot"

Just then Kitty gives out a shriek "Illyana!"

We all turn just as a blonde girl, in knee high black boots and black leather mini skirt and-well, black everything. She also had a spiked dog collar around her neck and a shirt that said 'Satan is waitin' across it.

"Kitty?" she says, a trace of an accent to her voice "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with these guys, what are you doing here?!" Kitty sounds about ten times more shocked than this other girl as they exchanged hugs "Oh, everyone, this is Illyana, we wen't to middle school together and I dated her- um- Piotr is her brother"

"I am regular" Illyana shrugged "Hey, Ethan" she waved to spider tattoo guy, who gave a small nod her way.

"How do you get in? They're not letting us in without ID?" Kitty said in a hushed whisper.

Illyana frowned before turning to the cashier "Oi, Mark, these guys with me. You let them in" she practically ordered, in what I could now tell was a Russian accent.

'Mark' the mohawk guy eyed us up disdainfully, but 'Ethan' stepped aside to let us in, stamping out hands as we went through.

We all followed after Illyana in a kind of awe. Emma didn't even have to buy a ticket.

"Sometimes Mark is in a bad mood, only then he asks for ID. Especially when its guys who look like you do" Illyana yells over the crowd to us, music already blaring,

When I actually look around the packed room, I see what she means. Mostly everyone here was either wearing something black, something ripped or something studded, or a combination of all three. There was a girl with a fluro pink crew cut whose top was completely see through except for a couple of strips of black electrical tape stuck over her nipples. Wait, I think it might actually be a man? I can't tell, they just turned back to their friend who had a padlocked bike chain around their neck as a fashion accessory.

I was in a collared shirt my mom bought me. Hank was wearing chino's.

We stood out.

"Bobby, why didn't you tell me the dress code for this place?!" Kitty said under her breath "I am wearing a forever 21 sequin top and floral leggings!"

"And that's no ones fault but your own.." Emma muttered.

Bobby held up his hands in defense "Hey, I didn't know this was what is was going to be like. Did you know this is what is was gonna' be like?"

"Huh" I turn around, realizing I was being talked too. I was busy looking at a guy wearing a collar, a girl leading I'm around the crowd with a chain.

"You know, I think Hank might have actually brought us to a sex dungeon" Emma smirked.

Hank flustered "No! There's a band, look, they have a microphone up on the stage and drum kit and...god, where's Abigail?"

"Wreck room is not sex club" Illyana says over the noise "Except for maybe in girls bathroom after one am, I see that couple of times. Also, sometimes more when it is wednesday night. That is ladies foxy boxing night. This is only band night. Much less sex"

Kitty laughs a little nervously "Gosh, you've changed a little since middle school, haven't you?"

"Hank!"

We all spin around to see Abigail, pushing her way through the crowds with the odd elbow to the gut to whoever got in her way.

"Abigail!" Hank smiled, taking in her ripped jeans and ripped shirt and hastily thrown up ponytail "You look radiantly distressed"

She looked at him like he was weird, but smiled anyway, grabbing his hand "Come on, bands on in like, five minutes. We need to get to the front"

Hank let himself be dragged away. Illyana turned to Kitty.

"You wan't to come to mosh pit too?"

Kitty looked a little lost "Uh, yeah, ok?"

Bobby's face fell as he watched the blonde russian walk off with his date "Moshing? We're moshing?" he looked back to me and Emma, helplessly

"I'm not moshing"

"-wouldn't get me in there for all the money to your name"

Bobby bounced on his feet for a second, an agonized look on his face, before racing after Kitty and Illyana.

Then it was just me and Emma in a sea of post-punk modernism.

"Lets go to the bar"

"I thought you were here to keep me company while I stood in the designated drivers corner having a terrible time?"

"I didn't say I would do it sober"


	10. A great end to a terrible week

We struggle through the crowd to the bar, where its flooded with people, all competing to flag down the two available bartenders.

The plus side of being abnormally tall is I tower of everyone. I put out my hand and call "Hey, over here" and the guy looks at me. He looks me dead in the eye. I know I'm wearing glasses but I can see that he saw me, and what does this guy do? Turns right back around and asks someone else's order.

Rude.

He wanders back after a minute, and this time I even wave an arm like, hey, look at me, I'm a thirsty person with money! And still, straight past me.

Then, moments later, Emma squeezes past me and starts nudging people out the way. As soon as she's even visible at the front of the bar, up springs a guy ready to take her order.

"What can I get you?"

"A black russian"

I throw up my arms "How? How did you do that?"

Emma gestured to her chest "These things pay for themselves, darling?"

I look down, then drag my head back up again. Did she really have to draw attention to them? It was hard enough not to look as it is, especially when I'm this tall with that kind of vantage point.

"So, uh, did you want to find that corner to brood in?" I ask.

"Hm, I'd prefer to brood sitting down, to be honest"

It only takes a minute of wandering before we're up in one the further back sections of the place, and theres a more elevated section, up a couple of stairs, where a few mismatched, threadbare, couches have been placed together. They're mostly full of people chatting and smoking already, but I spot one single cushion free on the end of a tan leather three seater.

I sink down into the worn cushion a surprising amount. The old thing sagged so much It was like falling into a marshmallow. Emma squeezes in next to me, and she lets out a little noise of surprise as she practically falls in too.

Then I realize how close we are. There wasn't enough room for even a centimetre between us, our shoulders pushed up against each other, our entire bodies pressed together side by side. There was no way I could maintain the appropriate thirty centimetre couch distance like before.

"Oh god, it's like it's trying to suck us in"

Emma tried to settle herself in what I guessed was a more dignified sitting position on the couch that was trying it's best to be a beanbag chair. I'm trying to focus on anything other than her jostling next to me, and the fact that her thigh is on my thigh.

Then the background club music stopped, followed by a huge screech of microphone feedback, making everyone wince. We watched as the band was welcomed onto the stage,

A guy with ridiculously gelled up hair, no really, it was like thirty centimetres high, came to the mike "Hey, motherfuckers! We're Age of Apocolypse and we're here to fuck shit up! Who's already wasted and ready to get fucking hard core tonight!" he screamed.

The crowd screamed back at him in excitement.

"You'd think a 'hello and good evening' would do" I muttered and I heard Emma laugh.

"You sound like such a white suburban dad"

"Yeah, well, I feel like a white suburban Dad in this crowd"

A girl with pink hair and black streaks lets out a few chords on her guitar, leading to more screaming and clapping, and a part of me is both amused and worried to think Bobby, Kitty and Hank were all trapped up the front of this crowd full of 'wasted motherfuckers'.

"ARE. YOU. PREPARED. TO. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

The guitars and drums started up full speed and I grimaced as that note continued. It wasn't even a note, it was one of those deep, throaty, screams that hurt my vocal chords just to listen to, and it didn't stop. I saw Emma's jaw drop a little as she put a finger tentatively to her ear, like she was physically in pain, and it just kept going.

It didn't take long for the moshing to start. I could spot Abigail easily enough. Even with the array of alternative hair colours, her green head stood out in the crowd, along with Hank's bulky frame. Next to them I could only just spot Bobby and Kitty.

It looked like they were getting beat up to music.

The noise was incredible.

I don't mean that as in 'the band was good' in fact, they were awful. Just the sheer amount of intense noise they could produce was the incredible thing.

I feel a tug on my jacket and turn to see Emma mouthing something at me.

"What?" I frown, unable to hear her.

She tries again, this time I pick up a faint sense of words as she leant in closer.

"What? You want some gum?" I yelled back.

She rolls her eyes before pulling herself right up to my ear, head in the crook of my neck.

It was hard to ignore the feel of her hot breath on my neck.

"I said ,this isn't my idea of fun!"

"Really? Because this really seemed like your kind of scene" I joke.

"When you said 'we're going to see a band' I pictured guys in beards and flannel shirts, with glasses they didn't really need, playing folksy songs about their twenty-something year old problems"

"And instead you get these guys. Inner ear damage personified"

"This is what I get for being nice" she teased "I should've let you suffer here on your own"

"Hey, You invited yourself" I laugh.

"And I regret it this very second"

There was a pause before she continued.

"But, To be honest I'm still wondering why Hank didn't get me a ticket along with the rest of you. He was the one who came to me for dating advice after all, you'd think he'd be grateful"

"He said Abigail could only get him the four tickets, for me, Bobby and Jean" I catch myself "I mean, I ended up giving my ticket to Bobby, so Kitty could come, but yeah"

Emma was silent for a second, and you could see her mind whirring.

"You gave your ticket to Bobby? Jean didn't want to come?" She asked, choosing her words carefully and deliberately.

"I...yeah, I didn't think this was the kind of thing she'd enjoy"

"Not her scene?"

"Exactly"

"Just like how we established it's not my scene either, nor yours, and yet here we are anyway"

I pulled at a loose bit of skin with my teeth.

"Well, I...didn't ask her in the first place"

I hadn't told her about the talk with Jean on Wednesday. How we were pretty much dangling by a thread at this point, or at least it felt that way to me.

It was hard to know why exactly. Couldn't pin point it.

Maybe I was scared she'd use her blunt powers of observation to tell me that what Jean had said meant it really was over, and I was just too dumb to realise it. Brutal honestly I didn't know if I was ready to hear.

Another, smaller, part of me imagined that if I brought up the trouble I was having with Jean, if me and Emma were alone one more time and we had that kind of heart to heart...would we do something stupid? Would she tell me that me and Jean were done and I should move on? That I should be with someone who makes me happy...that that person was her, that she wanted me in that way...that she'd take the chance to kiss me?

And again, I didn't know if that was a stupid notion, an unlikely scenario...or wishful thinking on my part.

It was easier to avoid the whole topic.

But she was staring at me, with those blue eyes that made you feel like you couldn't hide anything from her.

"Wow, Bobby look's like he's having a rough time out there"

"That was the least subtle derailment of a conversation I've ever heard" Emma said, turning her head to look at Bobby with me, regardless "But now you mention it, he really doesn't look like he's doing well"

I can't really describe what this crowd was doing, or wether it qualified as dancing or moshing, but it looked like people were...wind milling. Flinging their arms around in hard fast circles. Everyone was violently thrashing out around them. The head banging was so severe I was concerned that at least five people looked like they would have concussions if they hit each other. In fact, on another medical note, it just looked like a crowd of people having seizures. And Bobby looked like the one little kid on the bouncy castle who wanted to get off but was trapped by all the other bouncing party goers.

By chance, Bobby himself caught eyes with us.

I waved him over.

That way, he could escape, but claim it was because his good friend Scott had called him over for something, not because he looked ready to faint.

Such a good friend.

Bobby doesn't hesitate, and starts pushing his way through the thick crowd over towards us, swimming through the sea of alternate lifestyle livers.

Just before he reaches the small steps, having wormed his way past most people easily, he trips over someones ridiculously chunky spiked boot, and me and Emma watch as he topples forward, falling into the back of the heftiest, most tattooed, pierced and shaved looking individual I can see in the whole room.

The guy stumbles as Bobby crashed into him from behind, his beer being knocked out of his hand, spilling all down himself and his friend.

"Oh no.." I mutter, as hefty guy turns around, murder on his face.

From here I can't hear what's being said, but Bobby's face is nervous laughter, and no doubt a stream of apologies, but this guy is all anger, and none of the words he's mouthing looked nice.

"I think we might need to get down there-"

Emma doesn't even finish her sentence before the front of Bobby's shirt is grabbed.

Time to move quickly.

"Hey, hey!" I shout, for all the good it would do over all the noise.

When I was younger, I bugged my parents to let me go to Tae Kwon Do classes.I was convinced that by learning how to fight, I would be able to step up to any situation and deliver a round house kick, a couple of karate chops, and the Bruce Lee one-inch punch flawlessly, and anyone who messed with me or my friends would be down for the count in a matter of seconds. I'd be effective ,dangerous, and look like the guys from the movies.

But in real life, fight scenes are never that cool or coordinated.

It's usually just a couple of guys shoving and grabbing at each other in a mess of testosterone and poorly flung punches.

People backed up and stared, the scuffle drawing some attention, as I rush in and attempt to pry them apart. In return, hefty guys friend joins into, trying to pry me off prying hefty guy off of Bobby.

Like I said, a messy scuffle.

"Hey, calm down-" I try again.

"Fuckin' little asshole!" Hefty guy grunts, to me or Bobby, I don't know, but either way I was the one who got the punch to the head.

And this was a proper punch, right to the nose. I didn't even see who threw it, but it jolts my head violently, and my glasses are knocked off.

The pain erupts over my face, and I'm dazed enough to let go of the others.

As soon as that instant of shock wears off, my first thought is 'shit'.

My glasses.

I feel myself being pulled away and I have to blink my eyes to see Emma clearly. She grabbed me by the arm, guiding me away.

"Get them out of here! Get them out, it's those two over there!"

I recognise Kitty's voice, and I look over to see two bouncers forcing their way over to handle the situation. I hear what might be Russian curse words as well. I don't know, it's all still so loud, and theres a throbbing in my nose and my jaw feels almost out of place.

"Are you alright?" I hear Emma say quietly over everybody "Jesus, your bleeding"

I reach up and touch my nose, gingerly, pulling back my fingers to see blood.

"Shit..." I mutter.

"Is It broken?" Emma peers at me, examining my face.

"Doubt it, I think it'd hurt more if it did"

My face still feels strange and numb, but the pain was actually subsiding pretty quickly, but even as I speak I can taste the blood dripping down onto my lip.

I was still more worried about my glasses. Even now, in the low lit club, the flashing lights was hell on my eyes. It would only be about ten minutes before I started getting a killer headache.

Before I can even think to look, Kitty appears in front of us.

"Scott, here, I picked them up but someone must've already stepped on them or something"

She held up my now badly broken glasses. They were in two pieces, and one of the lenses had been complete shattered.

For a second we stop to watch as the two guys were being escorted out, and it looked like Hank had joined in the mess to try and convince the bouncers that Bobby was just an honest victim in all of this, because it looked like the bouncers wanted him out too.

The whole thing lasted about a minute, tops. A lot can happen in a minute.

"Crap, why are the pushing Bobby? Illyana, go talk to them, please, he can't get thrown out" Kitty

hurried away, Illyana following.

"Come on" I felt a tug at my arm "Let's at least try and get you cleaned up before we might get kicked out. You really do have blood pouring down your face"

I let myself be led through the crowds of onlookers by Emma towards the back of the club where the bathrooms were.

They were down a narrow hallway, besides the bar in the corner, graffiti and phone numbers all over the walls.

Emma pushed her way into the mens.

"Hey! You can't be in here-"

"Oh, shut up, there's nothing in here I haven't seen before" Emma says impatiently to the indignant man at the urinal.

"Get the fuck out, lady!" he tries again.

"Why don't you calm the fuck down" I yell back, surprising myself.

I'm in a bad mood.

He swears at us some more but zips up his pants and leaves.

Emma watches him go but doesn't seem too phased.

"Right, clean yourself up then" she says, pulling paper towels down from the dispenser.

I finally look at myself properly in the mirror, and she hadn't been kidding. There really was a lot of blood.

"Jesus...this really doesn't hurt as bad as it looks" I prod at my nose, leaning on the basin, wincing in the Mirror. But that was more to do with the florescent lights than anything.

"Are you sure your not saying that to sound like a big brave boy?" she teased, wetting the paper under the tap.

As I wipe away a bit of the blood with my sleeve, I can see a cut along the side of my nose. As soon as I wipe it away another trickle runs down.

"Guy must've been wearing a ring or something, I don't know what else could have-"

"Oh, god, don't use your sleeve, you animal. What do you think I'm getting this for?" Emma tuts as she holds up the wet paper towel "Come here, she instructs"

My face is pulled down a little so she can dab at my nose.

I hiss a little as she runs it over the cut. She's not gentle.

"Baby.." she mutters, but I notice her strokes get softer "Now, what kind of person hits a guy with glasses"

I muster a weak laugh.

I could probably do this myself, but Emma seemed focused, and this gave me a chance to close my eyes, holding off the impending headache. She ran the paper towel down the side of my face.

"So, been in many fights before?"

Theres a joking tone to her voice.

"From that stunning performance, what do you think?"

I feel her swipe along the bottom of my jaw.

"So what on earth possessed you to get in the middle of it?"

"Um...manly honour?"

"Of course"

"And seriously, that guy was maybe twice as big as Bobby. He would've been flattened-"

"You were almost flattened" she points out.

"It's the thought that counts. That you've got your friends back"

Emma ran the paper towel over the top of my lip, slowly.

"So would you get into a fight with someone who tried to start anything with me then?" She asks.

I smile "I would, but to be honest I can't imagine a scenario when your not the scariest thing in the room. You'd have them running yourself"

Emma drops the wadd of bloodied paper in the sink "Flatterer"

At that point I opened my eyes, despite myself. I wanted to know if that had made her smile.

It had.

Her eyes scan over my face for any remaining splecks of blood. Or at least that's what I think she's doing. She does this in silence.

Then I notice how she's holding my gaze.

"They're brown"

"What?"

She said it so softly, like she hadn't mean't to say it out loud. I think I heard her right. She was talking about my eyes.

We stood there for a second, me leaning against the basin, her looking up at me, the sink still running. The only sound between us.

Until the bathroom door burst open.

"Oh-shit. Sorry. Didn't realise you guys were-oh, hell, are you okay, dude?"

Emma pulled away and turned the tap off, the random guy looking at the blood stained paper.

"I-yeah, we're fine" I say quickly.

We both dart out back to the hallway.

My mind tries to distance itself from that...moment? Was it a moment? No. God it was in a men's rest room in a seedy bar. Forget how gentle her hands had been while she touched your face, think nothing of prolonged eye contact, just get it together, Summers.

As I tried to shake away any deeper meaning my brain might want to think about, realisation hit me.

"I have spare glasses in my car" I say out of nowhere as it hits me.

"Oh. Right" Emma says, arms folded.

"Man...I am not keen on going back through that crowd"

With my luck I'd fall on some guy and get a black eye next.

Emma just jutted her head down the hall "Service exit?"

I look down the end of the hall where a back door is propped open, leading to a set of concrete steps. Theres a guy, I'll assume bar staff, standing there on his phone, smoking.

"Service exit would be good"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It's cold outside as we walk around the back of the 24 hour laundromat and across the road.

I don't bother texting Hank or anything, to say we'd left. We'd only be a few minutes anyway.

"God, It's good to be away from all that noise" Emma says.

"Yeah. I was gonna' say you didn't have to come with me, but it's actually nice to get out here"

"Less stale cigarette smell too"

"Always a plus"

We reach the pretty much deserted car park and I'm squinting against the faded street lamps.

I unlock the rear door, sliding inside and across the backseat,

"You keep your spare glasses under there?" Emma asks.

"Box wouldn't fit in the glove compartment. Not with all the map directories and old Eighties mo-town mix tapes Dad shoved in their"

I reach down and feel under the seat ,pulling out the aforementioned box. It's a shoe box actually, from an old pair of sneakers. Inside is the emergency glasses. They're an old pair with a scratch on one of the lenses, which is why they got replaced in the first place, but they were still good as temporary back up. There's also aspirin, hand sanitizer, bandaids, a pair of scissors and some duct tape in there. And some tic tacs.

Emma's laughing behind me, peering in the car "It's a whole DIY emergency kit"

"And? You're saying that like it's a bad thing?"

"No, no, not a bad thing, just...very you"

"Gotta be prepared"

"But what would you need duct tape for?"

"Well, you obviously haven't been on a stretch of highway when your rear view mirror starts falling off"

She takes a look at the mirror. I smile smugly as she notices the mass of duct tape wrapped around it.

"It's a wonder this thing even runs" she mutters.

I pop open a few aspirin, to fight off any headache before it had a chance to properly start.

"Oh, crap. I need water for these" I realise "We might need to go back to the bar"

"No need" Emma says, slipping inside the car to sit next to me. She pulls out a flask from her purse.

"Here"

Well, that was convenient.

I take a swig and immediately choke on it.

"Oh my god, that's alcohol" I splutter, the sharp taste burning my throat.

"Scott, It's a flask, what did you think was going to be in it?"

"I asked for water, I thought that was what I was getting!"

"Who carries around water in a flask?!"

"I don't know, who carries around a flask in general!"

We're yelling and we stop and look each other and burst out laughing.

"God, I'm meant to be the designated driver"

"One swig won't kill you"

"Should antibiotics and alcohol even be mixed?"

"If anything, my own mother has proven that they can for years. You'll be fine" Emma waved it off.

I decide that I really, really don't want that headache. I only take enough of a sip to let me swallow the two tablets, and even then they went down a little dry, making me grimace.

When I hand the flask back to Emma she takes a drink herself.

"I kind of don't want to go back in there now" she says.

"Sure you don't want to miss Age Of Apocalypses next set?"

She mutter a laugh "I'll live"

Then we're just sitting there, in a kind of nice silence. The car door on Emma's side is still open, and you could hear the faint thrum of traffic from further away. I lean back to rest against the seat.

"Wild friday night out, huh" I say.

"Well, you did get punched. That's not tame"

I groan " A great end to a terrible week"

"Want to have a whine about it?"

"Is that Emma speak for 'You wanna' talk about it?"

"In a way" She answers.

"Well, too bad, because I don't really want to talk about it"

"And is that 'Scott speak' for 'It's about Jean?"

"...In a way" I echo back.

Then Emma just sits there, looking at me expectantly.

I sigh "Jean says she depressed?"

"Really?" Emma says, only a trace amount of surprise in her voice.

"Well, that's not the word she used, but she did say she was seeing the school councillor and has been for awhile. Says she not herself, she's stressed, doesn't want to be around people much anymore...it explains a lot really"

"So you noticed it too?"

I pause.

"Probably not as much as I should have"

It seemed to easy to see Jean's behaviour now. Once you actually laid out the word 'depression' it was like the last few months suddenly made sense. On one hand it bothered me that she had kept this to herself for so long, but on the other it made me feel like such an asshole for noticing it in the first place. All these signs and I never really bothered to ask if she was ok.

"I was her boyfriend. I was supposed to be making her happy, and all this time she hasn't been"

"Was?" Emma notes the word I used.

"Am. I mean...I am her boyfriend. I think. I don't know where we are right now" I admit "I don't know if there's anything I can do to help her, or if she even wants me around at all. She said she needed space. I don't know if I should just leave her alone, if that's better for her"

"It's not your job to cure someones depression. No one can do that for someone else" Emma says, in the softest voice I think I've heard her use.

"But what made her depressed in the first place? I know you didn't know her before, but Jean was...always so happy, and surrounded by people. She's got a good family, everyone loves her, her grades are fine-"

"Scott-" Emma cuts me off "Depression is...it's an unruly thing. Not so much caused by anything, sometimes it just happens to someone, out of nowhere, for no reason"

Or maybe I could be the reason. One of them.

Emma readjusted herself on the backseat, kicking off her heels to tuck her legs under her and face me better "The way I picture depression is as an entirely separate entity. It's a thing that attaches itself to a person, changes them without their permission, until they can't even remember the person they used to be. It lives in the back of peoples minds, telling them they're useless and that nothings worth it, which makes them sad, which makes them feel hopeless, which makes them not want to get out of bed in the morning, which leads to guilt and by then they've re-assured themselves that they are in fact worthless, just like the voice told them. It's something you have to fight off, shut up that voice that isn't theirs, but more often than not people learn to co-exist with it, and in the worst cases, they let it win. Then they forget they even have their own voice at all"

I thought it over, Emma gave me a idea that this distant, angry Jean wasn't really her was slightly comforting. It didn't really help in a practical way though.

"If I went home and googled 'How to cure depression', I'm gonna get pages of stupid answers like 'do yoga' or 'eat more Kale' aren't I?"

"Or to listen to the laughter of children, or some other trite bullshit some forty year old hippie writes up on her wordpress" Emma scoffed.

"...she could get on medication?"

"If that's what Jean wanted to do, she could, but it's up to her. Like I said before, you can't fight someones depression for them"

I laugh but theres no humor behind it "I wish I could"

Then Emma reached out and did a very un-Emma like thing.

She held my hand.

"It's hard watching someone change. When they take themselves somewhere you can't reach them"

Those words resounded in the back of my beat up old car. They hit me like I didn't expect them too.

"That's exactly what it feels like"

"I know. My brother tried to kill himself a few years ago"

I will always marvel at the things Emma could come out with so calmly. She wasn't teary, her voice didn't crack. She said it so matter of factly.

And now, in fact, I didn't know what to say.

"That...sucks"

"You have such a way with words"

"Yeah, I suck at this this kind of thing"

"And such an extended vocabulary"

"Do you have to dart between such heavy topics like depression with heavy sarcasm? It's hard to keep up"

"Sorry. It's a coping mechanism" she, again, stated like a fact.

"...you don't talk about your family much" I point out.

Emma gives a silent little nod.

I feel like she's trying to bite back a mechanical sarcastic response.

"They're not like yours" was all she ended up saying.

I squeezed her hand in mine. It was so much smaller, with softer skin and manicured nails.

"Your hands are cold" I say, lazily. My voice comes out low, like the weight of our conversation has exhausted me.

"Maybe yours are just warm"

That makes me smile.

"Even when we're being all vulnerable, having a moment, you've still got to be like that" I let out a breath of a laugh "I love it"

I say it without thinking. That word just slipped out.

I could take it back, stumble over my words, excuse it.

But instead I decide to let it hang in their air between us.

"Really?" Emma asks, staring at me. Trying to read me.

"Yeah" I barely whisper.

And at this point I knew what I was saying.

"So we're having a moment then, are we?"

The way her voice was playful, but serious. The way her body shifted lightly. She knew what I was saying too.

Then it just...happened.

It's funny how rarely anyone asks to be kissed, or gets permission to kiss someone. It all just happens through that feeling, that weird air and electricity between you. The way your eyes meet, how two sets of lips part. How theres that split second of complete knowing about whats about to happen, just before your lips meet.

And now I was kissing Emma.

This hadn't been part of any plan, but I wasn't going to stop it. Not right now, when I could feel her loosen her grip from my hand, letting her fingers travel to the nape of my neck, pulling herself closer towards me. I placed my free hand on her waist, on the smooth fabric of her dress. It wasn't good enough, I wanted to feel her bare skin. I gripped and trailed my hand down to her leg, pausing over the hemline.

She dragged her nails, only so gently, over the base of my neck. I took that as a silent permission.

The open car door , the cold night air, had taken any warmth from her skin, but that didn't make it any less lovely. I don't think I'd ever understand how girls could get their skin to feel so smooth. It was addicting, stroking over her leg like that.

The kiss was bold from the start. Emma knew what she was doing, and it wasn't hard to follow along. There wasn't any shy pecks, or nervous tongue darting. We weren't fourteen at our first dance, this kiss was full of need, and the pent up realisation that I'd been wanting this for longer than I should admit to anyone. From the way Emma ran her hand rhythmically through my hair, I hoped she'd been wanting this as badly too.

It all gets taken in at once. The touch of her, the smell of her hair mixed with the familiar smell of my car, the taste? I can't describe the taste. I never understood how lips were supposed to taste of anything, like they always described in the books. If anything I could taste the vaguest hints of alcohol clinging to the insides of our mouths. I hope she can't taste any dried blood on my lips, I can't help but over think.

I got more confident as I could feel Emma's breathing getting heavier, with every other stroke up her leg, I let my hand dart in towards her inner thigh, reaching higher and higher each time, my own breath getting heavier as well.

I was getting hard at this point, and Emma probably guessed that. She pulled away, and it only took a second for her to move her body, swing a leg across, so she sat comfortably in my lap, straddling me. She took the opportunity to run both her hands through my hair, starting at the base of my neck and travelling up, slow and massage like.

"Is this ok?" she asks, a surprisingly tender sounding question.

I think it's because we both know it isn't. What we're doing right now wasn't ok at all. I couldn't even put this down to that one sip of alcohol, this was just poor decision making that was going to cause trouble down the line.

But it was hard to think about that when Emma gave a sudden, slow, roll of her body, grinding her hips against the bulge in my pants.

I made a sound that was not a worded answer.

I'm sure the way I grabbed at her hips with more need than before, and pulled her closer, was answer enough.

There was one more quick kiss before we pulled apart, settling into a rhythm, pressing our bodied harder and faster into each other. It was better that way, I was free to look at her.

God, she was gorgeous. Really gorgeous.

She was dishevelled, lips pink and parted, the smallest pants on her breath as we sped up and I rocked under her. There was a satisfaction knowing that I got to see her like this, Emma with her guard down, her expression natural, not hard and calculating. I wanted to watch her lose herself, watch the way her face changed if we went further, hear the noises she would make.

Emma's short dress had rode up above her hips at this point, letting her move more freely, as well as giving me a view I could barely take my eyes from.

I moved my hands slowly up her thighs, pushing the material out of the way, my fingers brushing the edges of her underwear. She sat back against my hips, her back straightening, a small distance between us. She was watching my hand, as I gently slid my fingertips under the elastic, only an inch, like a test.

"Yes" Emma only had to breathe, wanting me to go further. I didn't need much more encouragement. Given permission, I slipped my hand under the layer of material, stroking down and running a finger over her. She was already wet.

I ran my fingers up and down her, and the soft moan she gave made me quicken my movements.

Then she reached down and massaged her palm against my erection. Then it was my turn to moan, and mine was louder than hers as she pressed harder and faster against the fabric of my jeans, which I cursed were in the way.

Luckily, Emma decided they should be gotten rid of too. It wasn't the easiest task to unbuckle the belt of my pants, and somehow shift them down enough to reveal the top of my boxers, before she pulled them away too and grabbed me hard in one hand.

I let out a kind of hiss of release as she started stroking me up and down, both of us now doing our best to please the other.

"God...that's.." I mutter out loud, and a smile plays on Emma's lips.

"That's what?" She pressed "Were you trying to dirty talk just then? God, that's good, baby? God, that's the way, just like that?"

"I know your joking-" I say between breaths "But that's still kind of hot"

I slip the finger that's stroking her upwards, feeling for the tightness, entering her for the first time.

There was a gasp I'll say I was satisfied to hear.

"Was that good, baby?" I say, unable to keep from smirking a little.

Emma gives me a harder tug than before, teasing, but I can't say it felt bad.

"You know, your about as big as I imagined" she whispered, leaning forward to the crook of my neck.

That make a million questions dart across my mind, the first and most important being-

"You've imagined this before?"

"Mmmm" she answers, sucking and biting at my neck.

"So...how big is big?" I can't help but ask.

"Do you want me to tell you have the biggest monster cock I've ever had the pleasure of holding in my hand?"

"Really? Even when we're...jerking each other off, theres sarcasm?"

Emma just laughed as she pushed her hips against my fingers, making me go deeper.

"Not to feed your ego or anything, but you're above average. Slightly" she says, teasingly.

I'll take that.

The talk, the joking, dies down, and for the next couple minutes it's back to the heavy breathing, with Emma going back to my neck, as our fingers work at each other, my free hand back to stroking the top of her leg, still not over the smoothness of her skin.

It wasn't long before I started feeling myself grow close. My head falls back against the headrest, my whole body tightening.

"Scott!"

I jump, my eyes snapping open. A bolt of fear running through me.

That wasn't Emma' voice, and Emma had jumped like I did, the both of us pulling away from each other as we stared at the door we'd, stupidly, left open.

"Hank!" Emma was the first to reply, as he stood there, looking at us with a kind of horror.

We all started talking at the same time.

"What the fuck are you doing!?"

"We we're just-honestly, lets not-"

"Shit, mother fucking...shit" was all I managed to come out with, hastily buckling up my pants as Emma climbed off me, pulling down her dress.

Hank had stepped away from the car, running both hands through his hair as he paced.

I stumble out of the car. I know I'm sweaty, I know Hank just saw my dick.

I don't even know what to say, I just know I need to get something out "Ok, so, I don't have an excuse, but-"

"BUT WHAT!?" Hank roars, with a kind of anger I've not seen from him before "But what, Scott?!"

"Look, I just- I just need a minute to gather my thoughts, I can explain-"

"Oh my god" Hank muttered.

"It all just kind of happened"

"We didn't know where you'd gone-"

"We'd just come out here for my glasses-"

"We looked everywhere around the club, we thought you'd been kicked out-"

"And I took some aspirin to get rid of a headache-"

"Then I said I'd go check out here for you, since you couldn't have gone anywhere else-"

"And we just got to talking and that led to...I don't know how-"

"You were having sex!" Hank yelled at me.

"Not entirely" Emma butted in, but Hank shot her a scathing look.

"Oh, don't be pedantic, Emma, not right now!"

"Hey, Hank, just calm down-" I start, but he wasn't hearing it.

"I knew there was something with you two, I knew it!"

"What? No. No there was nothing between- not before tonight" I argue.

"Bullshit!" Hank cried "Everyone could see it, everyone knew it was going to happen!"

"And who's everyone?" I ask, my own voice raising.

"The entire school could see you walking to every class together, going to each others houses, sharing fucking political science notes and giving each other looks! I knew you were too defensive the other day when I brought Emma up, and it pretty much fucking confirmed everything when she showed up tonight, when I know for a fact you didn't even bother to ask Jean-"

"Can you not talk about me like I'm not standing right here!" Emma glowered, and Hank turned on her.

"You don't have a say in this, you should just keep quiet if you're really smart!"

"Hey!" I shout over him "What the hell, Hank, don't talk to her like that"

"You didn't even bother to ask Jean-"Hank continued, ignoring me "Your girlfriend!" he stares hard at me.

"Your. Girlfriend!" He says again, for good measure.

"I.." I start weakly "I told you the other day, I don't know what we are right now, and-"

"Bullshit! That's such weak bullshit" Hank steps away from me, heading back to the club, still muttering to himself.

"Would you just listen!" I shout back at him across the road "What do you even think you know about all this?! You don't know-"

"I know that your a cheater!" he throws back at me "You-" he points back at Emma "I barely know you, so I guess finding out you don't have a decent moral compass isn't as surprising, and maybe I should've listened to the rumours about you, but you" he points at me "I didn't think you were ever capable of this kind of shit, Scott. Never"

"Oh, fuck you!" I yell, anger washing over me.

Yes, I had done something wrong.

I...knew that. I was very aware of that. I really didn't have that much right to be mad.

But this tone Hank had was infuriating, and I couldn't help but rise up to his anger.

"You think you're so smart, but you don't know everything about what's been going on, you don't know how it's been-"

"To be you?" he says "To be good looking? to have a nice girlfriend? Yeah, shit, that must've been so hard on you, I can see why you wanted to try and get off with some slut as well"

"Hank?!" I stare incredulously at him. Emma was his friend. I was his friend.

"Forget him" I hear Emma say as she heads back to the car "Come on Scott, just let him go" I can tell she's seething.

"Yeah, just go, Scott. Go with her. We'll get a taxi. I don't give a shit"

He gives me one more dark look before he disappears into the club entrance.

I'm standing there in the open space of the empty car park, and my breathing returns to normal. The anger leaves me, but my minds still running.

That happened too fast.

This whole night happened too fast.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I have a dirty love of high school AU fics and I can't hide it.  
> Plus, the whole Jean/Scott/Emma love triangle has always cried out to be written as a high school drama. Throw in Wolverine for good measure and it just writes itself.  
> This chapter is extra long as it's the first and I wanted to include the scene that introduced Emma. 
> 
> Obviously Scott is a favourite character of mine and the story will be entirely his p.o.v.


End file.
